newbie thin client question

[strawberry]

I'd like to set up a thin client to use remote desktop to connect to a virtual machine. I know its not a great setup but we have several staff who have nackered old laptops that can be used as thin clients. Is there an easy way to set this up? happy to boot from usb or cd if thats possible, ideally it should pre populate the name of the machine they are connecting to.

[cookie_monster]

If they can PXE boot you could use thinstation

:: Thinstation - a light, full-featured Linux thin client OS ::

[Axel]

Just a thought - if you were to invest in new thin-client hardware you would more than recoup the purchase cost in electricity savings alone within the warranty period....(You can do the maths, TC take 6w, PC's vary - typically 250w, and a new thin client costs around £100...)

[strawberry]

looking to avoid pxe booting as the school has a legacy program that pxeboots.

unfortately cost is only ever measured in capital cost, rather than ongoing cost at my school!.

thanks chaps, keep the ideas coming!.

[Ric_]

Scrub all but the bare Windoze OS and stick a shortcut on a locked down desktop. All it has to include is:

mstsc /v MyServer

The machines need not be domain members.