Terminal Services - Frequently Asked Windows Terminal Services Questions!

[12] Frequently Asked Asp Questions!

Updated: Jun 07, 2000

[188] Frequently Asked Citrix Questions!

Updated: Oct 10, 2006

[3] Frequently Asked Sco Tarentella Questions!

Updated: Aug 16, 2002

[260] Frequently Asked Windows Terminal Services Questions!

Updated: Aug 03, 2006

How do I disable popup error messages in Terminal Server? 

To modify Terminal Server`s displaying of hard errors on the console, you need to modify the ErrorMode value in this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Windows
The three possible values for ErrorMode are 0, 1, and 2. 0 is the default and displays all error messages. 1 suppresses only system errors, but displays all application-generated errors.
2 suppresses all hard errors, writing them only to the system event log.
You will most likely want to set this to 2 after you have installed all of your applications.

How can I force Terminal Server to terminate a disconnected client session? 

This comes from http://www.jsiinc.com/tip1400/rh1411.htm
When a Terminal Server client abnormally (power failure, network failure, etc..) loses their connection to the Terminal Server, their session may not be marked as disconnected. When the client logs on again, a new session is created, leaving the origonal session active, consuming resources.

To fix this problem, apply the latest Terminal Server Service Pack. Then use Regedt32 to navigate to:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server

On the Edit menu, Add Value name KeepAliveEnable as a type REG_DWORD. Set the data value to 1. The default is 0.

Use the Connection Configuration tool to double-click rdp-tcp, and click Advanced.
Locate the On a broken or timed-out connection, connect action the session line. Then:

Clear the Inherit User Config check box.
Check Disconnect.
Press OK.

With these settings, KeepAliveEnable will use Carrier Loss Detection,
polling each client every (KeepAvileInterval / #sessions), to disconnect the client session.

How do I disable Active Desktop on a Windows 2000 Terminal Services Server? 

To disable this option, launch "Terminal Services Configuration" from under Administrative Tools on the Start menu. Then click on the "Server Settings" folder and double-click the Active Desktop option and disable it.

What should I set the paging file to on a terminal server or W2K terminal services server? 

On an NT 4.0 Terminal server it is suggested to set the paging file to have the same initial and maximum size and make it at least 2 and 1/2 times conventional memory installed (cant be any more than 4 GB)
So for example, if you had 256 kb of memory you would set your paging file to be at least 740K for the minimum and maximum. It is also suggested that you set your paging file to be on a separate disk drive from your root drive.
For Windows 2000 Terminal Services it is reccomended that you set the initial size at 1 and 1/2 times installed ram and the maximum to be no more than 3 times installed ram.

What should I set the registry size to in Terminal Server? 

A critical change that you will need to make is to increase your server`s registry size limit . The number of concurrent users that you expect to have on the server will dictate how large you must set the registry size. Typically each user hive loaded in the registry will take between 400-600KB. Based on this you could determine the registry size using the following calculation: 600KB x (number of users) = maximum registry size.

What do I set the foreground task settings in Terminal Server or Terminal Services to? 

On both versions of Terminal Server, modify the foreground tasks so that they are set to no additional boost.
On TSE 4.0, this is done on the Performance tab of the System applet in the Control Panel. The Boost slider should be set to none instead of Maximum.
•On TS 2000, this option is under the Advanced tab in the System applet in the Control Panel. The Optimize Performance for Backround Services radio button should be selected.

Why is Internet Explorer running so slowly when browsing and taking up large amounts of CPU time? 

If you install Internet Explorer be sure and disable all the sounds. By default explorer makes a thumping sound at each page display which dramatically decreases browsing. Choose internet options and the advanced tab and uncheck the box to disable sounds. Also you can use the Wtsadm policy file to disable all sounds.

How do I increase the number of idle winstations available on a server? 

You can increase the number of available idle sessions to assist in supporting users during peak logon times at the cost of some additional memory overhead in maintaining these additional connections during normal operation. The idle session count is managed through this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Current ControlSet\Control\Terminal Server
The value to modify is IdleWinstationPoolCount, and the default REG_DWORD value is 0x2. This value can be increased or decreased as desired to configure the number of idle sessions. Setting this value to 0x0 simply means that no sessions are preloaded for use by connecting clients. Unfortunately, this change is not dynamic, so a system reboot is required for the changes to take effect.

Do You know of any good links or utilities on how to create system policies? 

Here are a few good ones... If you need some help with Office 2000 Policies check out this page at the Microsoft Office 2000 site
A great FREE (but requires registration) utility to edit policies can be found at this location.
Simac makes a great commercial utility which can be found at this location

How do I get printers to work on a Wyse Winterminal that has Windows CE on it? 

Using WYSE winterminals you need to set up static
printers on each of your servers. You need to make sure that you have the
name of your terminal set up in the terminal name field first before you
create printers.

We use HP1100 printers aliased to a 4, obviously you will need to change the
printer type appropriately.

This procedure is for setting up new installations only. You perform this
procedure when a brand new account has been created for a new winterm
installation and the printers do not exist on the servers.  This is for the
new winterms that have the Windows CE interface. This is to be performed
after the terminal is configured with IP`s, username and settings.

-After the winterm has started up choose the cofigure tab

-Click on edit button

-Under Citrix server choose your citrix server you want to create the
printer on.

-Click on Next

-Click on Next

-Enter in an account and password with administrator priveleges and your
domain name

-Click on Next

-Click on Finish

-Go to connections button and  Click on connect.

-Once connected click on start | settings and the Printers folder

-Click on Add Printer inside the printers folder

-Choose the HP Laserjet 4 from the next popup screen

-Click on OK

-Answer yes to Do you ant windows based programs to use this printer as the
default printer.

-For port choose Network Printer Server

-Choose Client Network

-Left double click on  Client in the dropdown and the printer name will
Appear as "terminal name"#LPT1: for example CITRIX5 would look like
citrix5#LPT1:  Choose this printer.

-Delete the colon : after LPT1 in the entry field and click on OK

-Click on OK again

-Now open the printers Applet again and choose the HP Laserjet 4 printer
name you just created. You may have to go to the View menu and choose
refresh for the printer to show up. Next open the printer window and choose
properties from the first menu.

-Under properties choose the security tab. Click on the permissions button.

-Highlight the group everyone and click on the remove button

-Next click on the add button and then click on the show users button. If a
box asks to list names from choose your proper domain.

-Choose the username that is the same as the terminal name you are setting
up and click on add. Change the type of access to FULL

Click on OK Click on OK and that is it. Repeat the above procedure for each
of your Citrix servers

Change the username of the terminal back to the user logon name and change
your application to your published app from the server name.