Network Connection Is Not Closed When You Log Off

After you log off from a Terminal Server session, not all network connections and files are closed correctly. This is most noticeable for users that connect to network share points (with a restricted number of user connections) and then log off and back on in quick succession. Subsequent attempts to connect to the share are rejected because of the maximum connection limit being reached, despite there appearing to be less users than the limit connected.

This problem can occur when you have dormant files on a connection at log off, causing a connection to not be terminated correctly. Note that this problem only affects Windows NT Terminal Server.

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in Windows NT 4.0 and Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. This problem was first corrected in Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition Service Pack 6.

Support for Dormant files is a redirector optimization where files which the client has closed are not actually closed on the server until a short period of time later (usually about 30 seconds). This is in case the client re-opens the file. This optimization enables the file to be re-opened very quickly and reduces network overhead.