how do I free some disc space in word

[dawn]

I have typed some work using word and saved these in my documents, now I am
trying to retrieve work saved, I keep getting a message saying not enought
memory or disc space and so my work i did in word will not open.

Can you help?

 

[ivcchelpdesk]

How many applications or processes are you running simultaneously? Sometimes
even when you close an application, the process is still running in the cache
(short term memory). Try closing out of other programs and then save.

You can also run the disk defragment process to clean up your hard drive.
You would go to My Computer, right-click on the C: drive (hard drive), and go
to properties. Click on the Tools tab, then click "Defragment Now". This
will rebuild your files so that all of their "parts" are together on the
disk. This process could take a while, depending on the size of your hard
drive. ~Ivcchelpdesk

 

[saint0]

How does one differentiate between Word's "must have" temp files and those
that can be thrown away? What prefixes and suffixes (such as .tmp, or ~*.*)
do these temp files have?

That is, some temp files are not capable of being deleted. Some are. Is
the only way to determine this is to try to delete them? Or, are there some
rules about the temp folders and files that must be followed for consistently
successful tmp file/folder deletions?

Is there a VB macro available that will automate this process?

As for swap space, what is the preferred way of increasing Word's page file
space or swap space? Is there a difference between swap space and page file
space?

Thanks,

-phillip
Palo Alto

PS - I couldn't post a new question directly to the list for some reason.
Am I blocked?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Temp files are by definition temporary in nature. Any that can be deleted
after closing Word (and restarting Windows if necessary) are not needed. See
http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Phillip,

Suzanne has answered your first couple of questions about temp files. To
continue...

Although it might be possible to write a macro in Word to delete some temp
files, it wouldn't be safe. It's very difficult to distinguish between
needed files and unneeded ones while Word itself is open, and you can't run
any macro while it isn't open. It would be better to use a batch file that
runs when Windows starts, before Word opens. A good source of information
about cleanup routines is Fred Langa's column at www.langa.com.

Mac users are familiar with the idea of allocating memory to specific
programs, but Windows doesn't work that way. There is a single page file
(yes, it's the same thing as swap space), and it's shared on demand by all
running programs. There is a control in the Control Panel (System > Advanced

Performance Options) to specify the size of the page file. But lots of

folks who have experimented with this say that except for PCs with unusual
usage profiles, the default size (based on the amount of physical memory
installed) is actually optimum and shouldn't be changed.

If you see an error message suggesting that you're out of memory or disk
space, more often than not the message is wrong. That seems to be the
default popup for "something's wrong and I have no idea what it is". Don't
try fiddling with the page file to stop the problem -- it won't do any good.

Problems with posting on the Communities web site do happen occasionally,
but are mostly short-lived. There's no mechanism for blocking anyone. Please
try again, or use a newsreader instead (see
http://word.mvps.org/FindHelp/WhichNewgrp.htm).