How to Change the Default Keep-Alive Time-Out Value in Internet Explorer (813827)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0
- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0
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 Description of the Microsoft Windows Registry SUMMARYThis article describes how to change the default HTTP
keep-alive value in Microsoft Internet Explorer.
When Internet Explorer
establishes a persistent HTTP connection with a Web server (by using
Connection: Keep-Alive headers), Internet Explorer reuses the same TCP/IP
socket that was used to receive the initial request until the socket is idle
for one minute. After the connection is idle for one minute, Internet Explorer
resets the connection. A new TCP/IP socket is used to receive additional
requests. You may want to change the HTTP KeepAliveTimeout
value in Internet Explorer.
If either the client browser (Internet Explorer) or the Web
server has a lower KeepAlive value, it is the limiting factor. For
example, if the client has a two-minute timeout, and the Web server has a one-minute timeout, the maximum timeout is one minute. Either the client or
the server can be the limiting factor.
By default, Internet Explorer has a KeepAliveTimeout value of one minute
and an additional limiting factor (ServerInfoTimeout) of two minutes. Either
setting can cause Internet Explorer to reset the socket.MORE INFORMATIONWarning 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. You may have to increase the default time-out
value for persistent HTTP connections in Internet Explorer if you are using a
Web program that must communicate with Internet Explorer over the same TCP/IP
socket after one idle minute. To change the default time-out value for
persistent HTTP connections in Internet Explorer, add a DWORD value that is
named KeepAliveTimeout
to the following registry key, and then set its value data to the time (in
milliseconds) that you want Internet Explorer to wait before resetting an idle
connection: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings To do this, follow these steps:
- Click Start, click Run,
type regedit, and then click OK.
- Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings - On the Edit menu, point to
New, and then click DWORD Value.
- Type KeepAliveTimeout, and then
press ENTER.
- On the Edit menu, click
Modify.
- Type the appropriate time-out value (in milliseconds), and
then click OK. For example, to set the time-out value to two
minutes, type 120000.
- Restart Internet Explorer.
If you set the KeepAliveTimeout value to less than
60,000 (one minute), you may have problems communicating with Web servers that
require persistent HTTP connections. For example, you may receive a "Page
cannot be displayed" error message. If you must have a KeepAliveTimeout value higher than
120000 (two minutes), you must create an additional registry key and set its
value equal to the KeepAliveTimeout value that you want. The additional registry
key is ServerInfoTimeout. It is a DWORD with a value (in milliseconds) and in
the same location as KeepAliveTimeout. For example, to use a three-minute
KeepAliveTimeout value, you must create the following registry keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings
KeepAliveTimeout DWORD value 180000 (in milliseconds)
ServerInfoTimeout DWORD value 180000 (in milliseconds) By
default, HTTP 1.1 is enabled in Internet Explorer except when you establish an
HTTP connection through a proxy server. When HTTP 1.1 is enabled, HTTP
connections remain open (or persistent) by default until the connection is idle
for one minute or until the value that is specified by the
KeepAliveTimeout value
in the registry is reached. You can modify HTTP 1.1 settings in Internet
Explorer by using the Advanced tab in the Internet
Options dialog box.
Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 12/3/2004 |
---|
Keywords: | kbinfo KB813827 |
---|
|