There isn't enough memory available to create a ramdisk device

If for some reason, after a software update or Windows update, which was interrupted, results in the Windows PC not booting, with error code 0xc0000017, then this post will help you resolve it. Here are the complete details from the error screen:

Recovery
Your PC couldn’t start properly
There isn’t enough memory available to create a ramdisk device.
Error code: 0xc0000017
You’ll need to use recovery tools. If you don’t have any installation media (like a disc or USB device), contact your PC administrator or PC/Device manufacturer.

Note: You will need admin privileges to execute the system commands.

What is a RAM Disk device?

A RAM disk (or RAM drive) is a virtual drive created using a portion of your main memory (called RAM) to store files temporarily. You can create a RAM drive in Windows 11/10 by converting or reserving a section of RAM and then using that section as a virtual drive. But, if there isn’t enough unused RAM available or there are bad memory sections, it can result in different problems.

There isn’t enough memory available to create a ramdisk device

According to Microsoft, Error code details, 0xc0000017 means bad memory sections marked by Windows built-in Boot Configuration Data. Thus, it blocks Random Access Memory (RAM) as a temporary store for data. That is why the error states that there is not enough memory available to create a RAM disk device or the temporary block used for a smooth upgrade.

Fix error code 0xc0000017 on Windows 11/10

Since you cannot boot into the computer, you will have to press the F8 to open Startup settings. The option is available with the screen. When you press it, you will have “Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt” as one of the options.

Once you are in Safe Mode, you can use the BCDEdit, a command-line tool for managing Boot Configuration Data (BCD), to clear the bad memory.

Open Command Prompt
Type bcdedit /enum all and press Enter.
It will display all memory locations labeled as “bad” will appear. This list can be removed or deleted.
You need to type bcdedit /deletevalue {badmemory} badmemorylist and hit Enter.
Then you can exit and restart your PC and perform the update.

If you run the command—bcdedit /enum {badmemory}—it will display a list of bad memory addresses or Page Frame Number for the memory pages expected to fail.

C:\Windows\system32>bcdedit /enum {badmemory}

RAM Defects
-----------
identifier            {badmemory}
badmemorylist          0xffe38
                       0x100f

Once you delete all these bad memory sectors, Windows will have enough memory, no blockage, and will reboot normally, or the update will happen as expected.

It is interesting to know that you can use bcdedit /set badmemorylist it to mark part of the RAM as bad. It comes in handy if you face a problem with a bad memory and want to block parts of it.

I hope you were able to get rid of the 0xc0000017 error code.

Read: There is not enough free memory to run this program

How do I fix there is not enough memory to complete this operation?

This error message occurs when users try to record audio (say WAV file) using the Sound Recorder tool in Windows 11/10 with more than 2GB of RAM. It may also occur when you try to open a program (say Word) or an app. To fix this issue, you should free up RAM. You can clear the memory cache, close unnecessary programs, update or repair the app, increase the virtual memory, restart your system and try again.

Related read: INACCESSIBLE BOOT DEVICE error in Windows.