IIRC, all pre-0.90 versions didn't use a DB. Instead, they tried to load the entire blockchain into memory. So, 0.87.2 is going to try to load something like 50 GB of data into RAM. I'd imagine this isn't feasible on your system.

AFAIK, you're best off just upgrading to the latest Armory (0.93.2) on both your online and offline systems. You shouldn't have any problems loading your wallets, although the online system will need some time to build the DB. No matter what, be sure to back up your wallets, either in paper or digital form.