Help me Pimp my Thin Client

bradbuser · Post by **bradbuser** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 3:22 pm

So I love my thin client and I have been kicking around the idea of using this amazingly simple device to do most of my daily computing in addition to its MJ functions. Therefore I’m asking for everyone’s input to help determine the size of the flashDOM to purchase. I figure I’ll use the typical stuff like Acrobat, flash, Java, DirectX, WMplayer, Firefox, etc. and possibly a few more substantial programs like Picasa for my wife to edit photos on an attached external hard drive. I suppose it would almost be like an Eee PC, only a desktop instead of a notebook. How much hard drive space do you think I would need for a setup like this? This also introduces the issue of full XP vs. XPe and if one would be better suited to this type of computing than another. Since we are becoming such a well versed group on thin client computing, give me your thoughts on these couple of subjects and any other insights of using a TC as daily use PC. Oh and I currently have a 1gb/512mb t5720.

maine-iac · Post by **maine-iac** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 5:00 pm

I suggest you conduct your experiment and let us know how it works out.

stroths · Post by **stroths** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 6:03 pm

Keep in mind that flash has a limited amount of writes and if you go the Full XP route, you will need to install the EWF driver to extend the lifetime of your DOM. However, you could also go with a laptop hard drive. The t5700 should have enough room to mount it internally. The t5710 wouldn't fit one internally unless you got the expansion bay and mounted it in there.

Providing its a good quality laptop drive, you shouldn't get too much noise out of it and you wouldn't have to worry about the speed of limited writes of flash memory.

If you do go the flash route, go with 2gb. If you want to install a full copy of XP then go with 4gb or more.

PTravel · Post by **PTravel** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 7:22 pm

The trick to using a thin client as a general purpose computer is to get as much software off the flash drive as possible. Start by editing your environmental variables to that TMP and TEMP point to a folder on a separate hard drive (you can use an attached usb drive or a network drive). Next, when you install your software, always choose the "custom" option and pick an installation directory that is on either an attached usb drive or a network drive. I'm sure there are other ways to force variable data off the flash drive, but I've only been playing around with my t5720 for a couple of days. One obvious thing to try is to find a way to relocate the document and settings folder to a usb or network drive. I'm sure this can be done -- it's probably a registry setting -- but I haven't had a chance yet to explore this.

For what it's worth, my t5720, which is a 512/512 machine, is currently running (in addition to the included software0:

Magicjack
FireFox 3.0 (with Adobe Flash, Addblocker, Java 2.0 runtime)
LanHelper
Xlight FTP server
APC Parachute personal edition
UltraVNC server
UltraVNC viewer
Glary Utilities
Citrix client (not the one included with the client)
HP Precision Deskscan
HP Copy Utility

Moving the TMP and TEMP variables and installing on an external USB drive results in about half of the 512 meg flash RAM being used. I've ordered a 1 gigabyte flash ram for the client, but I doubt it will really be necessary -- I may want to fool around with installing full XP pro on this machine. As lone as the temp variables are moved and installation takes place to an external drive, the only use made of the flash ram is for profile settings in the Documents and Settings folder. If that can be moved, there would be virtually no need for using the flash ram (except for the actual OS) at all.

maine-iac · Post by **maine-iac** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:26 pm

One obvious thing to try is to find a way to relocate the document and settings folder to a usb or network drive.

In Microsoft Word, you can change the default location where documents are saved, as well as other file variables. The rest of Microsoft Office shoud have the same options.

PTravel · Post by **PTravel** » Tue Jul 08, 2008 11:50 pm

Docouments and Settings is a folder that contains, among other things, system folders that hold application data and configuration information on a by-user basis, i.e. there's a folder in it for Administrator, for User, for Network and Local Service, etc. It is different than, for example, the "My Documents" folder which is where Word and other software will dump document saves by default -- that is actually a sub-folder under each user's folder in the Documents and Settings folder. If you have Folder Options set to display hidden and system files, you can see the file folder hierarchy clearly.

Moving the location for saving default documents doesn't change anything. I want to find a way to move the location for the entire Documents and Settings folder, which requires more than simply changing the default documents directory in individual programs. As I said, I suspect it's just a registry entry.

Incidentally, on my t5720, the Documents and Settings folder consumer about 26 megabytes, or roughly 5% of the total space available in the 512 meg flash RAM -- this is not an inconsiderable amount, as you can see.

>>>>>>

Post-script: Okay, I did some google searching and, as is often the case, found lots of bad information. However, I did find the correct instructions from Microsoft. So, here it is, straight from the horse's mouth:

1. Log on to the computer as an administrator, and then create a new folder.
2. In the current Documents and Settings folder, on the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
3. Under Advanced settings, click Show hidden files and folders, and then click to clear the Hide extensions for known file types and Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) check boxes.
4. Click OK.
5. Click and drag all the folders in the Documents and Settings folder to copy them to the new folder, except for the folder for the currently logged-on administrator.
6. Log off and then log back on, using a different administrator account from the one that you just logged off from.
7. Open the Documents and Settings folder again, and then copy the profile of the administrator that you just logged off from to the new folder. This extra step is needed because you cannot copy the profile of the account that is currently logged on.
8. Log off the computer, and then again log on to the computer as an administrator.
9. Start Registry Editor, and then click Find on the Edit menu.
10. Type documents and settings, and then click Find Next.
11. For every registry key or value that contains the original path, replace the value data or rename the value or registry key to the new path.IMPORTANT: You must complete this change in the registry for every instance of the original path, or your computer may not start. It is imperative that you update all registry keys and values with the new path.

12. Restart the computer. You can now safely remove the original Documents and Settings folder.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314843/en-us

I'm on the road until Friday, so I won't be able to try this until the weekend (this is a little much to do via VNC). However, moving the Documents and Settings folder to an external drive should go a long way to stabilizing the c: drive, limiting the amount of access to it, and keeping it a manageable size despite installing lots of additional software.

free2talk · Post by **free2talk** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:04 pm

This is a repost .I think this is the right thread to post my question so here goes
------------------------------------------------------------------------
hi

I have a question regarding my HP T5700 256/256 thin client.
Can i stream movies from netflix using T5700.I am planning to upgrade it to 512 RAM and 2 GB Flash.
Netflix requires min 3 GB of free disk space and i was thinking if I can plug in a 4GB USB drive and point the D:\temp folder there.
Will that work and make it meet the min requirements for streaming netflix to my LCD TV ?

Of course my magic jack will also be running simultaneously.

Thanks.

Delta-9 · Post by **Delta-9** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:25 pm

Netflix' requirements for streaming are as follows:

"You must have a computer running Windows XP with Service Pack 2 or higher, or Windows Vista; Internet Explorer version 6 or higher; Windows Media Player version 11 or higher; an active broadband connection to the Internet; 1.0 GHz processor; 512 MB RAM; 3 GB free hard disk drive space."

The thin client seems to just qualify for all the requirements. You will have to upgrade your WMP to version 11 -- I do not think that the version of WMP that comes with the Thin Client images is v11. That upgrade will probably eat into some of your available free disk space, so that 4gb thumb drive is probably a necessity.

I do not think the HDD requirement is a "hard" requirement, meaning if you had 2.5gb free I am sure it would still work. I was at my friend's who showed me is netflix streaming account and it loaded out of your web browser. I'd imagine the HDD size is an issue because of caching for the movie to download. Some movies are larger than others so they request that 3gb of HDD space just to CYA.

free2talk · Post by **free2talk** » Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:41 pm

Thanks