Not enough server storage

Error messages:

  • Not enough server storage is available to process this command.
  • Not enough memory to complete transaction. Close some applications and retry.

These error messages on a computer, which we will call computer A, can indicate the IRPStackSize bug on the other machine, the server that has the share, which we will call computer B. Go to that other computer, B, open the event log, and check for event ID 2011. If this is present, it is a strong indication for this particular bug. The two computers again:

  1. The computer trying to access a share on the other computer over the network, displays the error message, “Not enough …”. Let’s call this one the client.
  2. The server where the share is, needs to have its IRPStackSize parameter increased. Let’s call this one the server, even if it is just a desktop computer.

To repair it, you have to set or increase the IRPStackSize parameter in the registry on the server where the share is, i.e. on computer B.

There are many reports (below), indicating that a value of 15 is not enough, and only values in the range of 16 to 25 solved the problem.

The most successful values used to be 16 and 18, but recently we have more reports of 20 and more. If you want to solve the problem quickly, try 20.

It is not quite clear whether higher values incur any cost in terms of memory usage or performance, but it is conceivable that they don’t. If so, then we probably should just set the value to its maximum of 50 and forget about it.

And don’t forget to reboot after each change, because only that makes the new value effective. Thanks to everybody who tested and reported!

Please add a comment below to report which value you used to make it work. If you find the time to experiment, please report the lowest value that worked. Please try also to set it back to a lower value and recheck whether that indeed makes it fail. Reboot after each change.

Here is the offending registry value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Services
\LanmanServer
\Parameters
IRPStackSize DWORD 0x0000000f (15)

Check for the presence of the value named IRPStackSize. If it doesn’t exist, create it as type DWORD and make sure you have the capitalization absolutely correct (5 upper case, 7 lower case characters), because the system strangely seems to depend on that. Make sure also that you haven’t by mistake added a leading or trailing space as described in this comment below.

With base set to decimal, enter the value 16 or higher. 15 is the default, so entering 15 should have the same effect as removing that value altogether.

Reboot the computer (or restart the server service, as described in the comment below: Worked for me).

Certain software, when installed on the server, also causes this error. One frequent culprit is

  • Norton AntiVirus,

which tends to change the registry parameter. See also: How to remove Norton software. Other culprits seem to be

  • Acronis TrueImage, version 10 or 2009 or higher,
  • Seagate DiscWizard (a rebranded version of Acronis TrueImage),
  • IBM AntiVirus,
  • Microsoft’s Bitdefender, and
  • Symantec EndPoint Protection (version 11+),
  • AVG 2011+.

Some reports state that only uninstalling solves the problem. If you have such a case, please report your findings here.

Check also this Microsoft Knowledge Base article. It does not mention Windows XP, but applies to XP as well.

Antivirus Software May Cause Event ID 2011 (Q177078)
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/177078/

Category: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 /R2