PRJ: Print Preview Hangs or Displays "Out of Memory" Error (112253)

SYMPTOMS

When you view a project in print preview, Microsoft Project may display either an hourglass pointer for an extended period of time or an "Out of Memory" error message.

CAUSES

Some possible causes for this problem include the following:

• A task may have inadvertently been created several lines past the last task in the project file. This extra task may cause several blank pages to appear in print preview; because these blank pages are displayed along with your project, it may take a long time before the project is visible in print preview. For example, if you inadvertently create a task at ID 3799, and attempt to view the project in print preview, the project will consist of ID 1 through ID 3799 (even if all the tasks between those two values are blank).
• The length of the timescale for the project may be too great to be visible in print preview (an example of this type of timescale is a minor scale of hours in a project that spans a period of several years).
• The project may contain more tasks that can be displayed in print preview at once.
• The project may contain extensive formatting. For example the project may be formatted with extensive gridlines and very small fonts making the print job more complex.

WORKAROUNDS

To find out if there is an extra task in your project, do the following:

1. Press and hold down the CTRL key, and press the END key to go to the end of your project (Command + End key on Macintosh).
2. If the ID number for this task is not the ID number of the last task in the project, or if the task appears to be a blank task, choose the Delete command from the Edit menu.

To reduce the length of the timescale, do the following:

• Change major and minor scales to reflect a shorter timescale.

To view a project that contains more tasks than can be displayed in print preview, use a filter such as the Task Range filter or use a custom filters to view only a portion of the tasks at a time.