OFFXP: Office Programs Require Virtual Memory

When you start any of the Microsoft Office XP programs, for example, Microsoft Excel 2002, you receive an error message similar to the following: If you click OK, you receive the following error message:

This behavior occurs when you attempt to start any of the programs included in Office on a computer running Microsoft Windows 98, or Windows Millennium Edition (Me) and you have either, turned off virtual memory, or set the maximum size of the virtual memory too low. You may also receive these error messages when you start an Office program on a computer running Microsoft Windows NT or Windows 2000 if the paging file is too small.

To resolve this behavior, turn on virtual memory or increase the maximum size of the virtual memory setting, under Windows 98 or Windows Me, or increase the size of the Windows 2000 or Windows NT paging file.

To Turn On Virtual Memory

Windows 98, Windows Me

Office programs require that virtual memory be turned on when you run them under Windows 98 or Windows Me. To turn on virtual memory, follow these steps:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop, and then click Properties on the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Performance tab.
3. Click Virtual Memory.
4. Click to select the Let Windows manage my virtual memory settings (recommended) check box.
5. Click OK, and then click Close.
6. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.

Windows NT and Windows 2000

In Windows NT 4.0 and Windows 2000, you cannot turn off virtual memory. You can increase the size of the paging file, the file that provides virtual memory. To do this, follow these steps:

Windows NT 4.0:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop. Click Properties on the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Performance tab.
3. Click Change.
4. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, you can change the parameters for your paging file (initial size, maximum size, and so on). After you change the settings, click Set, and then click OK.
5. Click Close.
6. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.

Windows 2000:

1. Right-click the My Computer icon on the desktop. Click Properties on the shortcut menu.
2. Click the Advanced tab.
3. Click Performance Options.
4. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, you can change the parameters for your paging file (initial size, maximum size, and so on). After you change the settings, click Set, and then click OK.
5. Click Close.
6. When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Yes.

In Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT and Windows 2000, virtual memory allows the computer to use hard disk space as random access memory (RAM). The computer uses virtual memory to augment the normal RAM that is installed on the computer.

If for some reason you turned off virtual memory in Windows 98 or Windows Me, or the maximum setting for virtual memory is too low, or if you reduced the size of the paging file in Windows NT or Windows 2000, Office programs may not start correctly or at all. This behavior may occur even if the computer has a large amount of installed, RAM 32 megabytes (MB) or more. The amount of virtual memory required varies depending on the amount of installed RAM. For a Windows 98 or Windows Me system that has 24 MB of RAM, a minimum of approximately 24 MB of virtual memory is required to start an Office program. However, increasing the amount of virtual memory will also greatly increase the performance of your computer under Windows 98 or Window Me. For additional information, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: