Windows Thin PC

[NetworkNinja]

Hello Edugeek,

 

So we have alot of old Computers in our academy that were Windows Xp and recently Updated to windows 7. These Computers have the basic 1GB Ram ( MAX 2GB) with a 80GB HD.

 

These Computers are obversely very slow and wondering whether to install the windows thin PC technology.

 

What do you Guys think.

[Arthur]

Windows Thin PC is pretty useless due to the licensing restrictions.

 

Can I run applications on Windows Thin PC?

Yes, you can only run applications that fall into one of the following categories:

 

• Remote desktop clients
  
• Management
  
• Security
  
• Media players
  

However, you cannot run any productivity applications, such as Microsoft Office and similar applications.

 

These computers have the basic 1GB RAM (Max 2GB) with a 80GB HDD.

I would try installing Windows 8.1 on one of them since it requires less resources than Windows 7.

 

SSDs would make a big difference to the speed (as would doubling the RAM), but if the PCs are really old it's probably not worth spending much more money of them.

Edited February 25, 2015 by Arthur

[Sanm2009]

If you have mostly site licenses / volume licenses for Office, setting up a remote desktop services server maybe an option.

[PotNoodleTech]

Frankly I think you'd be better off getting extra ram and a 128GB SSD drive.

 

If their 1GB/80GB then they must be 6-8 years old? Has the academy got no replacement plan?

[localzuk]

Thin PC is for turning devices into thin clients basically.

 

Those PCs sound a lot like our 6 year old Viglens we have here - most of which we have turned into thin clients (Debian Linux+FreeRDP+Python/WX UI, connecting to Server 2008 R2 RDS). The remainders we have put more RAM in and have moved them to quieter roles.

 

So, as I see it, you really have 2 options:

 

Set up an RDS server/cluster and thin client your machines

Upgrade the machines - minimum more RAM, recommended also SSDs

[disk]

I agree with Arthur. I would add that if you plan on keeping them at 1GB of RAM, give 32bit Windows 8.1 a shot. In my experience it is more than capable on old hardware with 1GB of RAM.