half-open connections w/o utility

Just wondering if there is a way to increase your number of half-open connections in Widows SP2, without using a utility. Is it in the command line, or a registry entry? Yes, I admit, utilities make life easier, but it takes all of the fun out of learning how to do it yourself.

Any information is greatly appreciated.
shattered.likeness

 

Any chance of there being a link to a guide on how to do this?

 

found a link here: http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=1497&p=1

problem is this guide is for an unpatched SP2 install. But, seeing as how Microsoft resets this every so often, the value does not appear in the correct spot. Any idea where it is for updated version?

 

bump