Server freezes or user logon is slow when connecting to Windows Server 2012 R2 by using RDP

This article provides a solution to an issue where a computer freezes or user logon is slow when you connect to the computer by using Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP).

Applies to:   Windows Server 2012 R2
Original KB number:   4021856

Symptoms

When you create a RDP connection to a computer that is running Windows Server 2012 R2, the computer freezes.

In other cases, you may see the new user logons are slowed down to a degree they appear hung. The delay may also occur before the user enters the credentials.

Cause

This issue occurs because of a deadlock condition that involves Remote Desktop Services (RDS) (termsrv.dll), lsass (kerberos), and redirector. The deadlock occurs when RDS services try to load the user configuration data by issuing remote registry calls to the domain controller.

When you experience slow or hung logons, RDS service makes calls to API to a domain controller, and the round trips for these induce significant delays. This may occur for the following reasons:

• The network link to the Domain Controller is slow, congested and sees frame loss, and significant time is spent with retries to transfer data.
• The Domain Controller experiences local performance issues and responds to the requests slowly.

Resolution

There now is an option to turn off the Domain Controller requests during user logon. This avoids the window for the dead-lock, and fixes the performance issues.

In Windows Server 2012 R2, create the fQueryUserConfigFromLocalMachine registry entry according to the following steps.

To make the registry change, follow these steps:

1. Start Registry Editor. (Press Windows logo key + R, type regedit.exe in the Open box, and then click OK.)

2. In Registry Editor, locate and then click one of the following registry subkeys:

   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Terminal Services
   • HKEY _LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Terminal Server\WinStations\<Connection Name>

   Note

   By default, the value for <Connection Name> is RDP-Tcp. This value RDP-Tcp can be renamed or configured to something else.

   

3. On the Edit menu, select New, and then select DWORD Value.

4. Type fQueryUserConfigFromLocalMachine.

5. Press and hold (or right-click fQueryUserConfigFromLocalMachine, and then select Modify.

6. In the Value data box, type 1, and then select OK.

7. Exit Registry Editor.

You can also upgrade to Windows Server 2016 to fix this issue.