Setting IdleWinStationPoolCount to Zero Prevents Client Session Connection (245221)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition SP4
This article was previously published under Q245221
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about modifying the registry. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back it up and make sure that you understand how to restore the registry if a problem occurs. For information about how to back up, restore, and edit the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

256986 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry

SYMPTOMS

When you configure Terminal Servers as user workstations that have the IdleWinStationPoolCount registry value set to 0 (zero), you may receive the following error message any time you attempt to connect to the Terminal Server using Terminal Server Client:
The Terminal Server has ended your connection.

CAUSE

This issue occurs in Service Pack 4.

NOTE: This issue is corrected in Service Pack 5.

RESOLUTION

To resolve this issue use one of the following methods:

Manually Reset the IdleWinStationPoolCount Value

WARNING: If you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you may cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that you can solve problems that result from using Registry Editor incorrectly. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.
Manually reset the IdleWinStationPoolCount value if you want client connections.
  1. Start Registry Editor (Regedt32.exe).
  2. Locate the IdleWinStationPoolCount value in the following registry key:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server

  3. On the Edit menu, click DWORD, type 0x1, and then click OK.
  4. Quit Registry Editor, and then restart the server.

Install Windows NT Server, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 5

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Windows NT Server, Terminal Server Edition version 4.0. This problem has been corrected in the latest U.S. service pack for Windows NT Server, Terminal Server Edition version 4.0. For information on obtaining the service pack, query on the following word in the Microsoft Knowledge Base (without the spaces):

S E R V P A C K

MORE INFORMATION

Th IdleWinStationPoolCount value controls the number of idle sessions created by the server during startup. Each idle session loads an additional instance of Winlogon.exe and Csrss.exe in memory. This can consume more than 2 megabytes (MB) of memory per session. Some users or administrators may configure this registry value to 0 as a method of preserving resources. For additional information about using Terminal Server, click the article number%2 below to view the article%2 in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

190164 Using Terminal Server as a User Workstation

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:10/14/2002
Keywords:kbenv kbprb KB245221
©2002 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.