Re: st: mem usage and Stata version

[Alan Riley <ariley@stata.com>]

Will Hauser (whauseriii@gmail.com) asks some questions about
memory usage in Stata for Windows:
> I am working with a largish dataset.  It is 1,405,050 cases (544,758 kb) and
> I am merging in some additional info from other sources.  The final variable
> count will be somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 and probably 1.3 million
> cases (some attrition due to missing data).  As it is I am running into
> memory problems and while these could be addressed by trimming and
> compressing the dataset at this point the problem will only get worse as I
> move forward and should become insurmountable.   
> 
> I am working on a pc with 3 gigs memory (upgradable to 4) with a copy of
> Stata 10 intercooled.  The platform is 64bit but I don't know if the Stata
> version is 64 or 32bit.  I've read in the archives that Stata version 11 may
> allow me to devote more memory to the program but only if it is 64 bit
> (32bit and I would be worse off than I am now).  I'm willing to move to a
> new version of Stata or have the pc upgraded although the new version of
> Stata will probably be at my expense which is not altogether great since I
> am a poor graduate student.  I'm wondering what the best course of action
> is.  If I upgrade the memory on the pc will Windows 7 let me devote memory
> to it?  Or is it my version of Stata that is the problem?  Maybe it's both.
> How can I tell?
> 
> FYI, the error I get when merging the files is r(902) "no room to add more
> variables because of width...."
> The set mem command allows me to devote up to 1000m to Stata which is not
> enough.  To demand more (i.e. 1001m) results in the "op. sys. refuses to
> provide memory" error.
> 
> So what is the limiting factor in my arrangement?  Thank you all for any
> help and input you can provide.

He reports that his computer has 3 GB of memory, but the operating
system will only let Stata allocate 1 GB.  He also is unsure if he
is running 32-bit or 64-bit Stata.

Will must be running the 32-bit version of Stata.  He needs to
be running the 64-bit version.  He should uninstall and reinstall
the 64-bit version.  For the 64-bit version to work on his computer,
two other things must be true: the hardware must be 64-bit (it undoubtedly
is as 32-bit hardware is no longer often sold), and the operating
system must be 64-bit.  The last one may not be true, as computer
manufacturers often sell 64-bit hardware with a 32-bit version of
Windows running on it.

In any case, on a computer wih 3 GB of memory, Will will be able
to allocate much more than 1 GB to Stata once he has ensured
that the hardware, operating system, and version of Stata he has
installed are all 64-bit.


Alan
ariley@stata.com
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