4 days ago i got an error message: "there is not enough free memory to run this program.  quit 1 or more programs, then try again."   i got message when i was composing a 1 PAGE Word document on JUMP drive.  then tonight i got message:  "Windows- virtual memory minimum too low, your system is low on virtual memory."

i check c drive & i have 910 mb free space & total size is 7.85 gb.  jump drive had 981 mb free space & total size is 9.4 mb.  any idea why i got messages above & what to do to avoid getting messages again?  i have a compaq ipaqw/ 256 mb of ram.  i run MS windows xp.  thanks!It means you are running out of RAM, Windows XP is a memory guzzler so 256mb would serve that well. To get more virtual memory, go to...

Start->Control PANEL->Performance and Maintenance->System->Advanced (tab)->Settings (in the Performance category)->Advanced(tab)->Change (at the bottom under virtual memory) give yourself some more if you wish.

This is sort of dangerous, get a good memory clearer such as FreeRAM XP Pro to clear up some memory. Or buy another memory card for more memory if you plan to run this many processes at once again.
There are two issues, both related. You have only 256 meg RAM, which is minimal for XP, and actually is less as Ipaq's use onboard memory. Your free space on your hard drive is also too small. You are asuggested to have 15% of the drive free for swap files, etc.

So you A) need to get a bigger hard drive or clear out some serious space and B) get more RAM if you intend to run XP happily on that machine.  On that task bar which is to the right of the start menu button, check the icons for any undeeded programs you have running and CLOSE them. Press control ALT delete and look to the bottem of the task manager. How much "commit charge" do you have?