MacXL: Problems If Virtual Memory Off or Available Memory Low (178596)

SYMPTOMS

You may notice one or more of the following problems when you use Microsoft Excel:

When you start Microsoft Excel, you receive one of the following error messages:
There is insufficient memory to launch Microsoft Excel.
-or-
There is not enough memory to load the Microsoft Office <n> Microsoft Object Transport shared library.
If you click the Tools menu, point to Macro, and click Visual Basic Editor, or if you press OPTION+F11, you may receive one or more of the following error messages:
Not enough memory to run; quitting
Cannot use object linking and embedding.
One of your object libraries (Standard OLE Types (PowerMac)) is missing or damaged. Please install the program again.
An error occurred initializing the VBA libraries (8)
'VBA Extensibility Library (1)' could not be loaded.
Out of memory
The computer may stop responding (hang).
If you attempt to insert a user form into a workbook in the Visual Basic Editor, the user form appears, but it is incomplete. As a result, you cannot insert controls into the user form.
When you click the Search button on the Object Browser in the Visual Basic Editor, the computer stops responding (hangs).
When you quit Microsoft Excel, you receive the following error message:
Microsoft Visual Basic
Error accessing the system registry

The smaller the amount of memory installed on your computer, the more likely it is that these problems may occur.

CAUSE

These problems may occur when one or more of the following conditions are true:

Virtual memory on your computer is turned off.

-or-
In the Microsoft Excel Info dialog box, the Minimum Size setting is too low.

-or-
The amount of available memory is very low, either because there are too many programs running, or because your computer has insufficient total memory (regular memory plus virtual memory).

RESOLUTION

If you receive any of these error messages, you may need to perform one or more of the following sets of steps.

Turn on Virtual Memory

On the Apple menu, point to Control Panels, and then click Memory.
Under Virtual Memory, click On.
On the File menu, click Close Window. Then, click Restart on the Special menu.

When the computer restarts, virtual memory is turned on.

NOTE: If necessary, you can set the amount of virtual memory in the Memory control panel.

Change the Minimum Size and Preferred Size of Memory

In the Finder, select the Microsoft Excel icon.
On the File menu, click Get Info.
In the Minimum Size and Preferred Size boxes (under Memory Requirements or Show Memory), enter the amount of memory that you want Microsoft Excel to use.

NOTE: Do not set the Minimum Size setting too low. If you do, you receive an error message similar to the following:
You have set the Minimum size below <n>K, which may cause "Microsoft Excel" to crash. Are you sure you want to continue?
When you are finished, click Close Window on the File menu.

Increase Available Memory

You can use the following two methods to increase the amount of available memory in your computer:

Upgrade your computer by installing more memory.
Do not run unnecessary programs or extensions. You can disable extensions by using the Extensions Manager in the Control Panel; however, you should be careful when you disable extensions, because some extensions need to be loaded in order for some programs to work correctly.

MORE INFORMATION

Microsoft strongly recommends that you turn on virtual memory in order to run Excel. If you turn off virtual memory, you will likely need to increase the amount of memory available to Microsoft Excel by performing the steps shown in the "Resolution" section.

For more information about virtual memory, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120506 How Virtual Memory Works on a Power Macintosh

127084 Power Mac Applications Require Less RAM with Virtual Memory

For additional information about troubleshooting if the suggestions in this article do not resolve this issue, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

272347 OFF98: Visual Basic Error Messages When You Start Office Program or Visual Basic Editor, or Run a Macro