Too Many Sessions

[Hanif]

We have a Windows XP Pro workstation machine that we are
using as a file server. We have around 9 users so its not
a big office.

This morning some users could not connect to the drives.
When I tried to reconnect them, the message I got said
that the XP machine had exceeded its number of
connections?

Is there any way I can increase this number?

 

[Rob Schneider]

We have a Windows XP Pro workstation machine that we are
using as a file server. We have around 9 users so its not
a big office.

This morning some users could not connect to the drives.
When I tried to reconnect them, the message I got said
that the XP machine had exceeded its number of
connections?

Is there any way I can increase this number?

XP Pro is limited to 10 connections. To get more, you need to move to
Windows Server. The Microsoft Small Business Server might serve your
needs http://www.microsoft.com/sbserver/

 

[Lem]

We have a Windows XP Pro workstation machine that we are
using as a file server. We have around 9 users so its not
a big office.

This morning some users could not connect to the drives.
When I tried to reconnect them, the message I got said
that the XP machine had exceeded its number of
connections?

Is there any way I can increase this number?

Windows XP Pro allows a maximum of 10 concurrent incoming client
sessions (XP Home only 5). This includes printer shares. If you really
have only 9 users, you may have "null sessions" which are not being
closed properly. Here's an excerpt from a MS KB article:

A Windows client workstation may have opened a pipe connection to the named pipe \PIPE\spoolss on either a print server or a workstation that has a shared printer. This typically occurs when you start a program (such as Microsoft Word) that queries printers, or if you open the Printers folder in Control Panel. Printer spooling on both the client and the server will open a handle related to this connection.
A Remote Procedure Call (RPC) requires one named pipe instance for every active RPC call (like OpenPrinter). If an OpenPrinter call stops responding, RPC keeps open the named pipe connection. RPC does not disconnect this connection until the context handle (that is OpenPrinters) has been closed.

If both the following conditions are true, you may open an anonymous connection (also known as null session connection) that never closes to the named pipe \PIPE\spoolss on the workstation that acts as the server in your peer to peer network:
Your client has connected a shared printer on the computer that acts as a 'print server'.
You have set up a local shared printer on one or more clients.

See
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;328459&Product=winxp
and the MS KB articles listed at the end of that article for further
information.

 

[Hanif]

Thank you Rob. Does Windows 2000 also have that limitation

Hanif.

 

[Gary Davis]

2000Pro yes 2000 server No.

Thank you Rob. Does Windows 2000 also have that limitation

Hanif.

 

[Malke]

Thank you Rob. Does Windows 2000 also have that limitation

Hanif.

Downgrading to Windows 2000 isn't going to be an answer for you. You
will continue to get network-related errors. Bite the bullet and
upgrade your server to a real server. If you don't want to spend the
money on an MS operating system, there are less expensive alternatives,
but do consider who is going to support your system and what their area
and level of expertise is.

Malke

 

[hanif]

Thanks guys. The reason I asked about Win 2000 is that,
for some reason, my XP PRO machine cannot access a 2000
server that's in a workgroup. I have a local account on
that machine and if I try to connect to it from Win 2000
WS, I can connect just fine. It's just XP Pro that's not
letting me.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

We have a Windows XP Pro workstation machine that we are
using as a file server. We have around 9 users so its not
a big office.

This morning some users could not connect to the drives.
When I tried to reconnect them, the message I got said
that the XP machine had exceeded its number of
connections?

Is there any way I can increase this number?

XP Professional has a limit of ten connections, and you're
apparently trying to exceed it.

No, you can't increase it. It was never designed to be used as a
Server operating system, and is apparenly the wrong product for
your situation.