Not enough memory to complete this operation

I'm transferring photos from a thumb drive (PNY) to a WD external HD. After the transfer failed with this error I started moving individual dates. After moving 4 folders it failed again. Additionally the drive disappears. Lenovo Yoga 7i running Win11 version 22H2 with 16Gb of RAM. So far it's only failed with this thumb drive. I'm looking for a work around. Thanks

Welcome to the forum Try this.

4huskers said:

Additionally the drive disappears.

Click to expand...

That might be the reason for "not enough memory"
Certain errors in windows are known to be ambiguous and misleading.

Perhaps you should try a different USB port.

4huskers said:

So far it's only failed with this thumb drive. I'm looking for a work around. Thanks

Click to expand...

Well, if it's only that drive, perhaps you should look to another drive to test.

Also, as a side note, are you managing your pagefile or is it the OS. With today's OS there's no reason not to let the OS manage it.

JFYI
As a working PC Tech, I've been given several external HD's that have either started logging errors or quit working all together. So far, every one was an WD (Western Digital). The drives, once removed from the enclosures, worked ok.
I've kept those as Scratch Drives.
But the enclosures themselves were Trash!

What drive is disappearing? I'm guessing it's the WD drive. It could be a bad cable or as @TechnoMage2021 posted, the WD could have a bad controller.

The thumb drive disappears after three folders of photos are transferred. I moved all the other thumb drives without a hitch.

1. clean the thumb with diskpart
2. create new primary partition
3. perform slow format FAT32

With your thumb attached open up CMD as Administrator and type diskpart and press enter

this is pseudo example of commands, do not copy literary, type each command and identify your thumb drive number
this sample (second line) assumes your thumb drive number is 1 (one)

NOTE: that all data on thumb drive will be permanently deleted.


The last command performs slow format and will take some time, do not interrupt
when done close down command prompt

Try copying files to thumb drive.

zebal said:

1. clean the thumb with diskpart
2. create new primary partition
3. perform slow format FAT32

Click to expand...

It's worth a try but with the cost of thumb drives today and the chance of losing data, I would just buy a new one and be done with it.

It sounds like you are encountering some issues while transferring files from your PNY thumb drive to a WD external hard drive. There could be several reasons for this, including issues with the drives themselves, USB ports, or even the file system. Here are a few steps you might consider to troubleshoot the problem:



1. Check Your Drives : Make sure that both your thumb drive and external hard drive are functioning correctly. You can do this by trying to copy files to and from them using a different computer, or by copying different files on the same computer. If one drive is consistently problematic, it might be defective or damaged.



2. Change USB Ports: Sometimes, the problem might be with the USB port you are using. Try using a different USB port on your computer. If you are using a USB hub, try plugging the drive directly into the computer instead.



3. Check for Drive Errors: Use the built-in Windows utility to check both drives for errors. You can do this by opening File Explorer, right-clicking on the drive, selecting Properties, then the Tools tab, and clicking the Check button in the Error checking section.



4. Update Device Drivers: Make sure the drivers for your USB ports and external drives are up to date. You can update drivers through the Device Manager in Windows. Simply search for "Device Manager" in the start menu, expand the Disk drives section, right-click on your drives, and select "Update driver."



5. Use a Different File System: If you are trying to transfer a single file that is larger than 4 GB and your thumb drive is formatted with the FAT32 file system, the transfer will fail because FAT32 has a 4 GB file size limit. You would need to format the drive with a different file system, such as NTFS or exFAT, but remember formatting will erase all data on the drive.



6. Try a Different Copy Method: If you are using drag-and-drop to transfer the files, try using the copy-paste commands instead, or use a different file transfer utility.



Remember to back up all important data before proceeding with these steps, as some actions (like formatting a drive) can erase your data.