Fix ERROR_OUTOFMEMORY 0x0000000E on Windows Server

Quick answer: Run dir C:\ /s in an admin command prompt to find what's eating space, then delete or move files. If that fails, increase the page file size or move it to a drive with more room.

What this error actually means

I've seen this error pop up on Windows Server 2016 and 2019 boxes more times than I can count. The error text says “Not enough storage is available,” which tricks people into thinking it's a RAM problem. It's not. The culprit here is almost always the system drive — usually C: — running out of free space. Windows needs a certain amount of free space for the page file (pagefile.sys) to grow, for temp files, and for system operations. When that space drops below a threshold — I've seen it trigger at around 200 MB free — the system can't allocate memory for certain operations like file copies, SQL Server queries, or backup jobs. The error code 0x0000000E is basically Windows throwing up its hands and saying “I can't write a page file entry.”

Step-by-step fix

Check free space on your system drive. Open File Explorer, right-click C:, go to Properties. If free space is under 1 GB, that's your problem. Under 500 MB? You're in emergency mode.
Run a disk cleanup. Search for “Disk Cleanup” in Start, select the system drive, and let it scan. Check everything in the list — especially “Windows Update Cleanup” and “Temporary files.” That alone can free up 5-10 GB on a server that's never been cleaned. Click OK, and confirm deletion.
Check page file settings. Go to Control Panel > System > Advanced system settings > Performance settings > Advanced > Virtual memory > Change. Uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.” Set “System managed size” for C: — or if C: is too small, set it to a different drive with more space. Click Set, then OK. Reboot.
If still tight, move the page file. In the same dialog, select C:, choose “No paging file,” then select D: (or another drive with plenty of free space), and set it to “System managed.” Reboot. This moves pagefile.sys off the struggling drive.

Alternative fixes if the main one fails

Use the dism /online /cleanup-image /spsuperseded command. This removes old Service Pack backup files. Run it in an elevated command prompt. It can reclaim 1-3 GB on older servers.
Check for large log files. Look in C:\Windows\Logs and C:\Windows\Temp. Delete any .log files older than 30 days. SQL Server logs can be huge too — check your SQL data drive.
Use Treesize Free or Windirstat. These tools scan your drive and show a visual breakdown of what's using space. I've found 50 GB of old backup logs more than once with these.
If the error happens during a specific operation (like a backup job), check the application's temp directory. Some apps (looking at you, Veeam) dump temp data into the system drive by default. Change it to a larger drive in the app settings.

Prevention tips

Set up disk space alerts. Use Performance Monitor or a third-party tool to email you when C: free space drops below 5 GB. Don't rely on Windows' default warning — it kicks in when you're already in trouble.
Schedule a weekly disk cleanup. Run cleanmgr /sageset:1 to create a cleanup profile, then schedule it via Task Scheduler with cleanmgr /sagerun:1.
Move page file to a dedicated partition if you can. I set up servers with a 10-20 GB partition just for the page file. Makes troubleshooting this specific error obsolete.
Keep at least 10% of your system drive free. For a 100 GB C: drive, that's 10 GB. Below that, things get weird. Below 1 GB, you get this error.

I've fixed this error on dozens of machines — never once was it actual RAM. It's always the disk. Check space first, page file second, and you'll be back online in 10 minutes.