Hi Joe,
One suggestion is to disable background geoprocessing by clicking Geoprocessing > Geoprocessing Options on the Standard toolbar in ArcMap and then re-run the tool. Some geoprocessing tools need as much of your computer resources available and when a tool fails because there is not enough memory available you can try the following:Using this procedure, background processing is bypassed; the additional background process does not start, and the resources it would consume is now available for your tool to make use of. While the tool is executing, avoid starting any memory-intensive applications.
- Identify and exit nonessential memory-intensive applications.
- Disable background processing from the Geoprocessing Options dialog box (Geoprocessing > Geoprocessing Options). This will shut down the background process and free up resources.
- Rerun the tool.
If the above doesn't help to resolve the "ERROR 001143: Background server threw an exception" error, please contact Esri Support and log this issue so we can help in troubleshooting this error.
Thanks,
Denise
Michalis,
You do not mention the specific tool you are using but I assume you are using ArcToolbox > Conversion Tools > To Raster > Polygon to Raster for this process, is this correct? Do you receive the 'error 001143' with this tool? It is possible you are running into an issue with background processing. Please try running the tool with background processing disabled:
1. In ArcMap > Geoprocessing menu
2. Geoprocessing Options
3. Background Processing group > uncheck Enable
I did not know whether you are using ArcGIS Desktop 10 SP3 but I am aware of a fix in Service Pack 3 that might resolve this issue. Please install Service Pack 3 to see if this fixes the issue. http://resources.arcgis.com/content/patches-and-service-packs?fa=viewPatch&PID=17&MetaID=1807
For faster response by other ArcGIS Desktop users, please post your questions on a more applicable product forum such as ArcGIS Desktop Forums - http://forums.arcgis.com/forums/5-ArcGIS-Desktop-General.
Cheers,
Denise