How to change the Internet Explorer timeout settings

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:

1. Click Start, click Run, type regedit, and then click OK.
2. Locate and then click the following key in the registry:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\InternetSettings
3. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
4. Type KeepAliveTimeout, and then press ENTER.
5. On the Edit menu, click Modify.
6. 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.
7. 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.