Maximum NT User Handles Per Process Is 10,000 in Windows XP
This article was previously published under Q327699 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 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/256986/EN-US/) Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry
On This PageSYMPTOMS
Programs that require many NT User handles may stop working when they reach approximately 10,000 handles. For example, this might occur when a program tries to use many NetDDE links.
CAUSE
There is a hard-coded limit of 10,000 NT User handles. This is designed to prevent "bad" (incorrectly behaving) programs from allocating too many NT User handles.
RESOLUTIONA supported hotfix is now available from Microsoft. However, this hotfix is intended to correct only the problem that is described in this article. Apply this hotfix only to systems that are experiencing this specific problem. This hotfix might receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, we recommend that you wait for the next service pack that contains this hotfix. To resolve this problem, submit a request to Microsoft Online Customer Services to obtain the hotfix. To submit an online request to obtain the hotfix, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451 (http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=6294451) Note If additional issues occur or any troubleshooting is required, you might have to create a separate service request. The usual support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for this specific hotfix. To create a separate service request, visit the following Microsoft Web site: http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support (http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support)
The English version of this fix has the file attributes (or later) that are listed in the following table. The dates and times for these files are listed in coordinated universal time (UTC). When you view the file information, it is converted to local time. To find the difference between UTC and local time, use the Time Zone tab in the Date and Time tool in Control Panel.
Date Time Version Size File name
------------------------------------------------------
13-Aug-2002 12:04 5.1.2600.54 1,671,040 Win32k.sys
Required Registry ValuesWARNING: 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.To use this hotfix, you must create or modify the following registry values to specify the number of NT User handles that you want to allow. The maximum number is 18,000. HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\USERProcessHandleQuota HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Windows\USERPostMessageLimit (REG_DWORD) STATUSMicrosoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article.
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