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HP Scanjet - Slow or Halting Scanning, 'Not Enough Disk Space', or 'Not Enough Memory' Error Messages

Symptom
Read this section before continuing
Resolving out of memory errors and slow or halting scanning
Resolving out of disk space errors and slow or halting scanning

Symptom

While scanning, you may see one of the following symptoms:
  • Slow or halting scanning (frequently stops and starts during the same scan)
  • “Not enough disk space” error message
  • “Not enough memory” error message
The HP Scanjet scanning software generally does not cause the error messages or the slow performance. This document contains possible causes and suggested solutions for these symptoms.

Read this section before continuing

When scanning, the scanning software creates a temporary file to store the image data. When the scanning has finished, the scanning software will construct an image from the data stored in the temporary file and display it on the computer monitor.
Temporary files are created in a temporary location on the hard disk drive that is managed by the Windows operating system. Other applications and program tasks may also require use of this temporary space on the hard disk to store data. This temporary space is called virtual memory. Windows operating systems reserve some of the virtual memory space for the recycle bin and other Windows functions. This virtual memory space cannot be used by other applications.

Resolving out of memory errors and slow or halting scanning

Out of memory errors, slow scanning, or halting scanning can occur when there are not enough system resources left to perform the task desired. These symptoms occur regardless of how much Random Access Memory (RAM) is installed in the computer. Adding more RAM may not fix a low system resources problem.

Use Universal Serial Bus (USB) instead of parallel

If the scanner is connected using a parallel cable but is capable of being connected using a USB cable, complete the following steps:
  1. Uninstall the HP scanning software.
  2. Disconnect the parallel cable connecting the unit to the computer and unplug the power cord to the scanner.
  3. Reinstall the HP scanning software, selecting USB when prompted.
  4. Connect the scanner to the computer using a USB cable.
  5. Reinsert the power plug into the scanner.
  6. Try scanning again.

Check the amount of system resources available

Restart the computer and check the resources again. Usually more resources are available after restarting the computer. This is because of a condition called memory leakage. See the memory leakage section below for more information.
Follow the steps listed below to check the system resources:

Windows 95, 98, and Me

  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Performance tab. The amount of memory free is expressed as a percentage.

Microsoft(R) Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP

  1. Press and hold the CTRL and ALT keys on the computer keyboard, and then press the DEL key once to bring up the Windows Security Screen.
  2. Click Task Manager.
  3. Click the Performance tab. The amount of memory being used will be displayed as well as a graph of memory usage over time.

Disable unwanted background tasks to free up system resources

Many applications load tasks that run in the background to either place toolbars or icons on the Windows desktop. Many of these are not needed nor desired and can be shut down. Refer to HP Support document How to Increase System Resources Without Adding RAM for more information.

Verify that minimum system requirements are met

Verify that the computer meets or exceeds the minimum amount of RAM required for the HP Scanjet scanner. The minimum system RAM information will be printed on the box and can be found online in the product specifications.

Virtual memory settings

Scanning tasks use virtual memory to store information. Virtual memory is unused space on the computer hard drive.
A computer should have at least 100 - 200 MB (depending on the version of Windows) of free disk space for Windows to use as virtual memory. Be aware that other Windows components also use or reserve portions of hard disk space, such as the print spooler and recycle bin.
In Windows NT-based operating systems (Windows NT 4.0, 2000, and XP) the amount of virtual memory should be over 200 MB. If the task requires more virtual memory than what is available, an error will occur. The size of the virtual memory available can be modified in NT based Windows operating systems. Complete the steps under the appropriate operating system to check and set the virtual memory settings.

Windows XP

  1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Advanced tab. In the Performance section, click Settings.
  3. Click the Advanced tab. In the Virtual memory section, click Change.
  4. The hard disk drive that is used for virtual memory will usually be the same disk drive that Windows is installed on. Both the Initial and Maximum settings should be less than the reported Space available on the hard disk drive. The Initial size setting for the virtual memory settings should be approximately 200 MB in size but should be higher than or equal to the recommended paging file size as indicated in the lower section of the screen.
    Once the initial size is set, Windows will reserve this amount of space on the hard disk drive for virtual memory and it will not be available to save information on.
    The maximum amount allowable can be anything above the Initial size setting, but it is recommended that it be at least twice the Initial size setting.
  5. Click Set, and then click OK to save any changes.

Windows 2000

  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Performance Options.
  3. In the Virtual Memory section, click Change.
  4. The hard disk drive that is used for virtual memory will usually be the same disk drive that Windows is installed on. Both the Initial and Maximum settings should be less than the reported Space available on the hard disk drive. The Initial size for the virtual memory settings should be about 200 MB in size and should be higher than or equal to the recommended paging file size as indicated in the middle section of the screen.
    Once the initial size is set, Windows will reserve this amount of space on the hard disk drive for virtual memory and it will not be available to save information on.
    The maximum amount allowable can be anything above the Initial size setting, but it is recommended that it be at least twice the Initial size setting.
  5. Click Set, and then click OK to save any changes.

Windows NT 4.0

  1. Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
  2. Click the Performance tab, and then click Performance Options.
  3. In the Virtual Memory section, click Change.
  4. The hard disk drive that is used for virtual memory will usually be the same disk drive that Windows is installed on. Both the Initial and Maximum settings should be less than the reported Space available on the hard disk drive. The Initial size for the virtual memory settings should be about 150 MB in size and should be higher than or equal to the recommended paging file size as indicated in the middle section of the screen.
    Once the initial size is set, Windows will reserve this amount of space on the hard disk drive for virtual memory and it will not be available to save information on.
    The maximum amount allowable can be anything above the Initial size setting, but it is recommended that it be at least 200 MB or twice the Initial size setting.
  5. Click Set, and then click OK to save any changes.

Clean up the hard disk drive and other maintenance tips

Empty the Recycle Bin

  1. From the Windows desktop, double-click Recycle Bin.
  2. Restore any mistakenly deleted items by highlighting each file, clicking File, and clicking Restore.
  3. Click File, and then click Empty Recycle Bin. Windows will remove the contents of the Recycle Bin from the hard disk (C: is most common). Select Yes to confirm.
  4. Close the Recycle Bin.

Run Disk Cleanup

Windows 98, Me, 2000, and XP users should run Disk Cleanup to remove temporary files
  1. Click Start, click Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools , and then select Disk Cleanup .
  2. The tool will request which drive it is to cleanup, even if only one hard disk drive is installed. Select the hard disk drive(s), and then click OK.
  3. Disk Cleanup analyzes the hard drive and presents a report. Make sure that Temporary Internet Files , Downloaded Program Files, Recycle Bin, and Temporary Files are selected. Then click OK to perform the cleanup operation.

Windows NT 4.0 and 95 users should manually delete temporary Internet files and other temporary files

These two operating systems do not have the Disk Cleanup utility so the cleanup must be performed from within the Web browser. From within Microsoft Internet Explorer, the following steps accomplish this:
  1. Open Internet Explorer, and click the Tools menu. Then, select Internet Options.
  2. In the Temporary Internet files section, select Delete Files. Close Internet Explorer when finished.
  3. Click Start, click Find, and then click Files or Folders.
  4. Type *.TMP into the Named box.
  5. Make sure that the hard disk drive that contains Windows is selected in the Look In field and that Include sub folders is selected. Then, select Find Now.
  6. Delete any file that does not have a tilde (~) in front of it. Close the Find window when finished.
Run Scan Disk and Defrag (Defrag may not be available in Windows NT 4.0) on the hard drive.
  1. Click Start, click Programs, click Accessories, click System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
  2. Select the hard drive to be defragmented, and then click OK.
Delete old or unused software. It is a good idea to run Scan disk and Defrag after removing large applications so that the hard disk drive can be reorganized.
  1. Click Start, click Settings, click Control Panel, and then click Add/Remove Programs to access the Add/Remove Software wizard.
  2. Select an application, and then click Add/Remove to uninstall the application.
A memory error may also occur if other error conditions are present, such as a missing file error. The memory error will go away once the other error condition is corrected. If this is the case, a missing file error message will appear after the out of memory error. The missing file must be located or reinstalled.
note:
If low system resources continue to be a problem, please contact the computer manufacturer for further assistance.

RAM and memory leakage

Random Access Memory (RAM) is the memory that is used to run applications. As more applications are opened, less RAM is available for use.
Memory leakage occurs when an application is closed, but does not return the entire amount of RAM it was allocated by the operating system.
Eventually memory leakage decreases the amount of RAM available to run other applications, resulting in memory or disk space errors and slow or incorrect scans. The only way to regain the leaked memory is to restart the computer.

Resolving out of disk space errors and slow or halting scanning

HP scanning software uses the hard drive as virtual memory to scan and build a digital image. Listed below are several things to check if these symptoms appear while scanning.

Check the amount of space available on the hard disk drive

  1. Double-click My Computer. In Windows XP, click Start, and then click My Computer.
  2. Right-click the hard drive icon and select Properties to view the amount of hard disk space used and available. If there is more than one hard disk drive or drive partition, repeat this process for each physical drive letter listed. Do not do this for any listed network drives.

Check the image size of the scanned item

Image size information is shown in the HP Scanjet scanning software. If the size of the file is nearly equal to or larger than the amount of hard disk space free, the task will fail.
  • Decrease the image resolution to 72 dpi and try scanning again. If the scan works correctly, the previously resolution setting was too high and created too large of a file. Follow the instructions in the "Virtual memory settings" section above.
  • Most computers cannot handle files over two hundred megabytes in size because they lack the RAM, virtual memory size, free hard disk space, or any combination of these. Scanning images at extremely high resolutions or color depth creates files that are extremely large. In many cases, the files are too large for the computer to handle.
  • In most cases there is no need to scan or work with images at high resolutions. There is no reason to scan at a higher resolution than the destination of the scan is capable of displaying. For example, the average computer monitor displays images at approximately 72 dpi. Scanning an image at a resolution higher than 72 dpi is a waste of system resources and hard disk space if the image is to be viewed only on a computer monitor.

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