What does Windows error code 8 (ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY) mean?

 
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ERROR_ARENA_TRASHED ERROR_INVALID_BLOCK

ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY

The operation exhausted an available memory resource

ERROR_NOT_ENOUGH_MEMORY does not always mean that physical RAM is completely exhausted. The failure can involve virtual address space, commit limits, desktop heap, kernel pools, or a process-specific allocation constraint.

What to collect

  • Record process working set, private bytes, commit charge, and architecture.
  • Check whether the request size is unexpectedly large because of overflow or corrupt input.
  • Look for leaks in handles, mapped views, buffers, and repeated allocations.
  • Compare the result in a 32-bit and 64-bit process when address-space pressure is plausible.

Recovery

Release optional caches and fail the operation cleanly. Avoid unbounded retry loops, which can worsen memory pressure. If the condition is persistent, correct the leak or allocation strategy rather than merely increasing machine memory.

References


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