TCP traffic stops after you enable both receive-side scaling and Internet Connection Sharing in Windows Vista or in Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 or Service Pack 2

This article provides a solution to an issue that TCP traffic stops after you enable both receive-side scaling and Internet Connection Sharing.

Applies to:   Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003
Original KB number:   927168

Problem description

After you enable both receive-side scaling and Internet Connection Sharing, TCP traffic stops. For example, the ping command does not work.

This problem occurs if the computer is running one of the following operating systems:

  • Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 1 (SP1) and the Windows Server 2003 Scalable Networking Pack installed
  • Windows Server 2003 with Service Pack 2 (SP2)
  • Windows Vista

Cause

This problem occurs because receive-side scaling and Internet Connection Sharing are mutually exclusive.

Resolution

To resolve this problem, disable either receive-side scaling or Internet Connection Sharing. Do not enable both receive-side scaling and Internet Connection Sharing at the same time.

How to disable receive-side scaling in Windows Server 2003

To disable receive-side scaling in the network adapter driver in Windows Server 2003, follow these steps:

  1. Click Start, click Run, type ncpa.cpl, and then click OK.
  2. Right-click a network adapter object, and then click Properties.
  3. Click Configure, and then click the Advanced tab.
  4. In the Property list, click Receive Side Scaling, click Disable in the Value list, and then click OK.
  5. Repeat steps 2 through 4 for each network adapter object.

How to determine whether receive-side scaling is enabled in Windows Vista

To determine whether receive-side scaling is enabled in Windows Vista, type the following command at a command prompt:
netsh interface tcp show global

Output will be displayed that resembles the following:

    Querying active state...

    TCP Global Parameters
    ----------------------------------------------
    Receive-Side Scaling State          : enabled
    [...]

How to disable receive-side scaling in Windows Vista

To disable receive-side scaling, you have to type the following command at a command prompt:
netsh interface tcp set global rss=disabled

Fix it for me

If you want us to do this for you automatically, click the Fix this problem link. Then click Run in the File Download dialog box, and follow the steps in this wizard.

Note

This wizard may be in English only; however, the automatic fix also works for other language versions of Windows.

Note

If you are not on the computer that has the problem, you can save the automatic fix to a flash drive or to a CD, and then you can run it on the computer that has the problem.

Status

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed in the "Applies to" section.