Civil 3D 2010 Out of Memory Problem

Last Updated 01-11-2010:

Civil 3D 2010 is fully supported on Windows XP (both 32 and 64 bit) and Windows Vista (both 32 and 64 bit).

Civil 3D 2010 is also supported on Windows 7 with a few known issues.
Previous versions will *probably* install on Windows 7, but are not supported.

Civil 3D 2010 is NOT supported on any of the following OSs:
Windows emulators on Mac, Linux, etc...
Windows ME
Windows 98

Ok - so what is the solution to an out of memory problem in Civil 3D 2010? You will need administrator rights on your computer to do most of my suggestions. Most of these require a reboot to take effect. When in doubt, seek out your IT person.

I promise one of these actions will work. Try them in the following order:

1. Check out your video card driver's date. Right-click on your Computer icon and go to Manage. Double click Device Manager. Expand Display Adapters. Right-click on the name of the video card and select properties. Look at the date on the driver. Is it more than a few months old? If you are connected to the interwebs you can click Update Driver and have Windows seek out the newest driver (if a newer one exists).
2. Install Civil 3D 2010 Update 2.
3. Get more RAM. 4 gigs are reccomended. Is your machine recognising all of what you have? I ran into a case not long ago where the guy insisted he had 4 gig, but the hardware guy didn't install it correctly. Doh! Go to your Computer Properties to verify.
4. Throw the 3-gig Switch. Here are my favorite directions. They are a little more clear than the TS1071001 doc.
5. Increase Virtual Memory. Windows uses a chunk of your hard drive and pretends it is RAM when needed. Right-click Computer > Properties > Advanced tab. Click Settings under the performance area. Go to the Advanced tab. Click Change next to virtual memory. Whatever its set to now for initial and maximum size, double it.
6. Set your WHIPTHREAD variable to 3. Got multiple core processor? Use it!
7. Is the Problem Drawing-Specific? Use Recover with XREFS under the Application Menu > Drawing Utilities > Recover > Recover with XREFS to verify the health of your drawings. AUDIT, PURGE, -PURGE for regapps.
8. Do Less Stuff. If you can get by with running just email and Civil 3D at once, that might help your RAM situation. If you're on a beefy machine, this shouldn't be an issue, but know your computer's limitations.

I really hope this helps.