Several Terminal Services CALs Appear to Have the Same Computer Name (251386)

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

CAUSE

The client computer name that appears to have multiple licenses may actually represent several client computers that are cloned from the same source computer (for example, CLONE_SOURCE). Some third-party cloning programs may not properly change the computer's name in the client computer's registry. Therefore, the same computer name (CLONE_SOURCE) is registered additional times with Terminal Services Licensing. These entries are actually separate client computers with one license per client computer, but the same computer name registered several times.

RESOLUTION

Some cloning programs provide a place to change the computer name during the process of dumping the cloned image on to the target computer. This may not change the computer name effectively, and Microsoft recommends that you manually change the computer name.

To resolve this issue, locate the Terminal Services client computers that were cloned from the source computer (CLONE_SOURCE) and do not appear in Terminal Services Licensing list under the new client computer name. Use the appropriate steps to manually change the name of the client computer's properties.

Windows 2000 Professional-Based Computer

Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
On the Network Identification tab, click Properties.
Type the new computer name for the workstation, and then click OK.
Click OK, and then restart the computer.

Windows NT Workstation-Based Computer

Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click Network.
On the Identification tab, click Change.
Type the new computer name for the workstation, and then click OK.
Click OK, and then restart the computer.

MORE INFORMATION

Terminal Services Licensing may appear to give a client computer numerous CALs. Individual client computers only require one Terminal Services CAL and do not tie that CAL to the user that is logged on to the client computer. Therefore, many different people can log on to a client computer and only one Terminal Services CAL is required.

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.

Licensing information is stored in the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\MSLicensing\Store\License00x

Locate the registry key (License000 or License00x) and verify that there are not numerous License00x keys listed. This provides assurance that the computer is not taking multiple Terminal Services licenses. Do not delete keys, as they are only deleted on the client. Deleting a key does not remove the issuance history contained in the Terminal Services license server.

NOTE: Two License00x keys are normal; one for the computer running Windows 2000 Professional or Windows NT Workstation, and one for the Terminal Services CAL on the client computer.

Use the appropriate steps in the "Resolution" section of this article to obtain the proper computer name for the workstation. If you want the new workstation name to be reflected in Terminal Services Licensing, please refer to the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article:

248430 How to Transfer Terminal Services CAL from One Computer to Another

This article describes how to move the Terminal Services CAL from one computer to another, or in this case, how to recover a Terminal Services CAL from a computer and reinstall a Terminal Services CAL on the same computer with the corrected workstation name. This action registers the proper workstation name in Terminal Services Licensing.