Setting IdleWinStationPoolCount to Zero Prevents Client Session Connection

ID: Q245221

The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 SP4, Terminal Server Edition
IMPORTANT: This article contains information about editing the registry. Before you edit the registry, make sure you understand how to restore it if a problem occurs. For information about how to do this, view the "Restoring the Registry" Help topic in Regedit.exe or the "Restoring a Registry Key" Help topic in Regedt32.exe.

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: Using Registry Editor incorrectly can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall your operating system. Microsoft cannot guarantee that problems resulting from the incorrect use of Registry Editor can be solved. Use Registry Editor at your own risk.

For information about how to edit the registry, view the "Changing Keys and Values" Help topic in Registry Editor (Regedit.exe) or the "Add and Delete Information in the Registry" and "Edit Registry Data" Help topics in Regedt32.exe. Note that you should back up the registry before you edit it. If you are running Windows NT, you should also update your Emergency Repair Disk (ERD).
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:


    3. 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 below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q190164 Using Terminal Server as a User Workstation

Additional query words: session terminalsvr

Keywords : kbenv
Version : winnt:4.0 SP4
Platform : winnt
Issue type : kbprb


Last Reviewed: December 2, 1999
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