Windows 2000 Does Not Use Configured TCPWindowSize Registry Parameter When Accepting a Connection

Windows 2000 does not use the configured TCPWindowSize registry parameter when accepting a connection (SYN-ACKing) if you configure the parameter per interface and if the value is equal to or greater than 64240 (it uses a window size of 17520 instead, if you are using Ethernet).

The TCP connection accept functionality does not correctly parse the window size if you configure the parameter per interface.

To resolve this issue, set the TCPWindowSize value globally or use a value smaller than 64240 (this value is a multiple of the Ethernet Maximum Segment Size).

Microsoft has confirmed this to be a problem in Microsoft Windows 2000.

The TCPWindowSize registry parameter determines the maximum TCP receive window size offered by a computer when establishing a TCP connection. The receive window specifies the number of bytes that a sender can transmit without receiving an acknowledgment.

You can set the TCPWindowSize parameter in either of the following locations in the registry in Windows 2000: Although the TCP window size used by the Internet Protocol (IP) stack may not be the same value configured using the TCPWindowSize registry parameter, the value should be obtained by rounding up the TCPWindowSize to a multiple of the Ethernet Maximum Segment Size (MSS), which is 1460 for Ethernet. To use a TCP window size greater than 65535, you need to turn on the Window Scaling option.

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