No programs will open, "Not enough memory available..." error

[FarSeerAT]

I am currently using Windows Vista on 3 of my computers but still have several computers running Windows XP. I'm assuming that this problem only happens on Vista because it happens on all of my computers running Vista but I have never come across this problem before on XP as far as I can remember.
This is what happens: I'll be surfing the internet (I'm currently using Internet Explorer 7) opening multiple tabs then all of a sudden when I try opening a new tab it will just be a blank page, and when I try opening another tab after that nothing happens at all. When this happens, right clicking does nothing and drop down menus such as File, Page, Tools, etc. don't open (in any program) either. If I try opening any program it will not open, however I am still able to tab between programs that are already open.
Restarting my computer fixes the problem but it still happens again, currently it's happening to me almost every day and it's getting really annoying having to keep restarting my computer. Help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

[stevejohnson1958]

What are your system specs on the computer running Vista which is experiencing this problem?

Also...have you downloaded and installed the latest "high priority" updates from Windows/Microsoft Update?

[FarSeerAT]

I'll focus on the computer I'm currently using for now, the other ones are being used by other people at the moment anyway. I don't know much about computers so I hope this is the information you were looking for... this is what came up in the System tab when I ran DirectX Diagnostic Tool:
Time of this report: 4/12/2008, 10:48:31
Machine name: DREW-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.071023-1545)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.       
System Model: M51Sn               
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T9500  @ 2.60GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 1520MB used, 4803MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode

On this computer Windows Updates are set to automatically download and I noticed that one downloaded a couple of days ago so I assume I'm up to date in that department.

[Broni]

Did the problem start recently?

[FarSeerAT]

This laptop is about one and a half months old now and it's happened ever since I got it.

[Broni]

Did you try to call your computer maker support?

[FarSeerAT]

No.

When this problem happened today I tried closing programs then opening programs. At first it let me open programs after I had closed other programs but less than I previously had open, eventually leading to me having no programs open and not being able to open any programs. While testing this I opened Notepad and noticed that Notepad's File, Edit, Format, View and Help menus didn't appear. I then decided to try entering some gibberish and pressing Ctrl + S to see if it would save anyway, then this error appeared:
Not enough memory available to complete this operation. Quit one or more applications to increase available memory, and then try again.
I then managed to open Windows Task Manager and check my memory usage and I wasn't even close to running out of memory so I still have no clue what causes this problem.

[stevejohnson1958]

Are you using Aero on this computer?

Aero is a resource hog...if it's enabled, it may be causing the issue...even though the system has plenty of RAM available.

TRy disbling it...and see if the problem still occurs.  If it isn't enabled...then the problem lies somewhere else.

[FarSeerAT]

I'm not using Aero.