I am running a WinXP machine with 1Gb of memory.  I am finding some
rather large Excel files are causing the system to run out of memory
(i.e. error="not enough resources to complete...").  However, when I
hit CRTL-ALT-DEL to determine which resources are takening up memory,
I see Excel.exe is taking up about 250Mb and all other applications
taking up an insignificant amount (i.e. all running processes are
taking up less than 300Mb of memory).

On the surface, it seems like a lot of memory is still available
(700Mb in this example), but somehow XP is unable to allocate the
entire amount (1Gb) of memory properly to the applications that need
them.  I was under the impression that XP does this automatically and
I am not aware of any manual adjustments I can make to fix this.

How can I solve this problem?  I intentionally bought a lot of memory
to solve this problem, but apparently my theory was flawed.  A little
help please.  Thank you.

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Request for Question Clarification by haversian-ga on 01 Nov 2002 11:19 PST

Is Windows or Excel throwing the error?  What exactly does it say
(including weird hex codes)?

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Clarification of Question by respree-ga on 01 Nov 2002 11:54 PST

Excel is producing the error, while trying to perform normal functions
(in this case, a simple cut and paste).  No weird hex codes that I can
see.  If you know how to find out what they are, left me know and I'll
report back.

The Excel error message is a generic popup which says "Excel cannot
complete task with available resources.  Choose less data or close
other applications."  I checked the memory status and it is as
described in my original post.

Does this happen when you are trying to cut+paste huge amounts of
data? Or when you've worked in the file for awhile?

Excel has an UNDO buffer that you might change from the 256 undo's
default; otherwise you could cut and paste 100mb of data ten times and
exceed 1Gb.

I'm assuming you are using XP Professional and not XP home, right?

You checked your motherboard's bios to be sure you're really using all
1Gb of the ram you installed, right? You might need a BIOS update.

For the future you might consider a dual-processor motherboard and the
multiprocessor version of XP.

Yes, I happens when I copy huge amounts of data (doesn't matter how
long I've been working in the file).  Auto recalc is on (if that makes
any difference).

Yes, I am using XP Professional.

BIOS:
CMOS Setup Utilities read:
Base memory 640K
Extended memory 1047552K
Total memory 1048576K

What do I want to change the UNDO buffer to? (up or down?). Any advise
on how to do that?  Thanks.

The information in this article applies to:
Microsoft Excel 2002

SYMPTOMS
When you attempt to save a Microsoft Excel workbook, define a name,
delete a name, or use a defined name in a formula, you may receive the
following error message:

Excel cannot complete this task with the available resources. Choose
less data or close other applications.
CAUSE
This behavior can occur if you define names that indirectly refer to
other nested names that are more than 20 levels deep. When you add or
use a name that exceeds that level of indirection in a formula, you
receive this error message. You also receive this error message when
you delete a name that is referenced by more than 20 levels of defined
names.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this issue, change the defined names so that they reference
the given cells more directly.
STATUS
Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in the Microsoft products
that are listed at the beginning of this article.
MORE INFORMATION
A level of indirection in defined names is created when one name
refers to another name or to a cell reference.

If you define the following names in a workbook named Book1 
   Name    Refers to       Level of indirection
   --------------------------------------------

   Test1   =Sheet1!$A$1               1
   Test2   =Book1!Test1               2
   Test3   =Book1!Test2               3
   Test4   =Book1!Test3               4
   Test5   =Book1!Test4               5
   Test6   =Book1!Test5               6
   Test7   =Book1!Test6               7
   Test8   =Book1!Test7               8
   Test9   =Book1!Test8               9
   Test10  =Book1!Test9               10
   Test11  =Book1!Test10              11
   Test12  =Book1!Test11              12
   Test13  =Book1!Test12              13
   Test14  =Book1!Test13              14
   Test15  =Book1!Test14              15
   Test16  =Book1!Test15              16
   Test17  =Book1!Test16              17
   Test18  =Book1!Test17              18
   Test19  =Book1!Test18              19
   Test20  =Book1!Test19              20 (the limit)
   Test21  =Book1!Test20              21
where each line represents one level of indirection, and you attempt
to use a name that exceeds the twentieth level of indirection, you
receive the error message described in the "Symptoms" section.

You may also receive this error message if you try to delete a name
that has too many levels of indirection below the name. For example,
if you try to delete the name "Test1", you may receive the error
message because the name "Test21" is 20 or more levels of indirection
away.

Somewhere in your control panel, there should be a setting for 'hard
disk space used for virtual memory'.  (Either 'System' or 'Memory', I
think.)

Make sure your virtual memory is always set to at least double your
RAM (so 2GB in your case).

*crosses fingers*