number of users

I think it's 10 total connections to the computer.

So, if someone is sharing your printer, that would come out of the 10. The number can be decreased, but not increased above 10.

Server Operating Systems from Microsoft are not limited to 10 IP connections. Only the desktop OS is so inhibited.

I tried using an XP machine as a print server, and it failed miserably. Ten simultaneous IP connections are allowed per XP "server", and keep in mind that connections tend to linger before being reset.

The practical maximum would be somewhere around 5 total users connecting per 2 minute period.

I got around the issue by converting the XP Professional to XP Server (codenamed Whistler Server). There are programs out there that do this.

Whistler Server isn't the most stable, though, and I'm sure there's a registry hack somewhere out there.

Recently we went through this problem at my workplace. We spent many hours researching the internet, makin' actual hacks, changing settings EVERYWHERE, even cracking the TCPIP file, but nothing worked. Our only solution was to share what we wanted in a Windows Server.

Now we let that problem to forgiveness.

I think 10 users can concurrently connect to a shared folder or machine at one time. Howerver, the time out period is set for-- I think "15" minutes so technically as long as you dont have multiple connections within 15 minutes everything should work out fine.

If you have a network big enough to hit the limit of 10 concurrent sessions at a time on a network share or printer, you need to do your job and STRONGLY recommend your business purchase a server. Obviously you know the advantages of a server over trying to hack XP to make things 'kinda' work. It's an ethics thing too. IT pro's shouldn't be spending their time hacking around a workstation OS when they know there is a better solution.