I Just received this message while using access 2010. "system resources exceeded"

Hard to know without the detail.

This generally happens when you run a complex query that applies to many records, you receive the following error message:

System Resource Exceeded

Microsoft Recommend you apply this hotfix:

2553447 MS12-046: Description of the security update for Office 2010: July 10, 2012

You may also consider:
Making the query more efficient
Juicing up the machine you're working on
Closing any unwanted processes in the background when you're running the query

It's an error that can apply to a lot of things and be given for quite a few reasons.   It can be difficult to track down.

 One is running out of locks.   By default, 9,500 locks is it, which is pitifully low.  You can increase the lock limit by setting a registry entry, or adding the line:

dbEngine.SetOption "MaxLocksPerBuffer", 500000

to the app at start-up.

 Another reason is the one already mentioned; query that is too complex.  Make sure you are only including fields you really need, and that your app compiles (if your using any VBA in your query and it doesn't, your fair game for the error).

 Another reason is the table ID limit, which is approx 2048 table ID's.   There's nothing you can do here as the limit is not adjustable.   You can only refactor the process (ie. like using temp tables to reduce a complex query operation).

 Another is the DB hitting the 2GB limit while the queries execute.

 Another is not having a TEMP or TMP environment variable pointing to a drive with enough free space (rare to see this anymore though).

Jim.