Thin Desktop® Frequently Asked Questions

What is Thin Desktop?
Thin Desktop® is an application which transforms a PC into a single purpose device, much like a Thin Client. For instance, Thin Clients are generally configured to start up and launch either an ICA connection to a Citrix desktop or an RDP connection to a Terminal Services Server, or an RDP connection to a Virtual Machine (VM). One advantage of Thin Clients is that when they are configured to launch a designated session, that session is all the user has access to. The end user doesn't have access to the Operating System to make changes and potentially cause the Thin Client to stop functioning. With Thin Desktop, the same advantage can be enjoyed on a PC. When starting a PC with Thin Desktop enabled, the end user only has access to the application configured in Thin Desktop. In the example above, this would either be the ICA or RDP client.

How can I deploy Thin Desktop?
There are many options for deploying Thin Desktop. In an evaluation environment, you can use the interactive installer to setup Thin Desktop directly. This is not reasonable for mass deployment. Because Thin Desktop is bundled into a standard Windows Installer Package (MSI file), you can deploy it with whatever management tool you currently use to deploy applications to your PCs. Once the installer is deployed, it may be installed silently by executing the following command:

msiexec /i ThinDesktop2.3.2.msi /qn LAUNCHCOMMAND="Location of the program Thin Desktop should launch" LICENSEKEY= "Your License Key"

In the case of bundling a machine image with Thin Desktop, this command can be used at the end of sysprep to install and configure Thin Desktop with no user intervention.

Can I configure Thin Desktop to launch an application other that the ICA or RDP client?
Absolutely. You can configure Thin Desktop to launch any single application installed on the PC. ICA and RDP clients are the primary intended use, however, any application will work. A frequently used application is Internet Explorer (IE). If you configure Thin Desktop to launch IE, the PC is quickly converted into an Internet Kiosk without the work of locking the user out of the local operating system. The caveat with launching any application other than the ICA or RDP client is that Thin Desktop does NOT lock down the application or any of its features. In the example above, when using Thin Desktop to turn a PC into an Internet Kiosk, you would need to decide how to lock down the actual (Internet Explorer) application.

What does Thin Desktop do when it is installed?
During installation, Thin Desktop creates a local user account named ThinDesktopUser and places the newly created account into the Users group. Thin Desktop then updates the registry so that the newly created user is automatically logged-on every time the PC boots. When the system boots with Thin Desktop installed, Thin Desktop has complete control of the PC and monitors which user logs on to the PC. If the user is ThinDesktopUser as expected (which will happen automatically if an administrator doesn't stop this from happening), Thin Desktop will launch the configured command, instead of the standard Windows shell. Thin Desktop then monitors the PC to ensure that the designated application continues to run. If for any reason the designated application exits (user closes the application, the application fails, etc), Thin Desktop will immediately launch it again. If the end user attempts CTRL-ALT-DEL, the only choices they will have is to Logoff (ThinDesktopUser would be immediately logged back in and the designated application restarted) or Cancel, returning them to the running application. If Thin Desktop sees any user other than ThinDesktopUser log into the system, Windows will operate normally.

Why can't I simply lock down the PC myself instead of using Thin Desktop?
A variety of methods currently exist to provide various levels of lockdown. Most companies already lock down their PCs to some degree using one of these methods. Generally, a great deal of time could be spent configuring group policy or registry settings to the point where the end user had no access to the local desktop, or had access to only a single application. The ability to enable the application to be continually monitored and automatically restarted were it to be closed would entail additional development and testing. Thin Desktop eliminates the need for any of this and offers a simple and convenient way to accomplish this goal.

Does the end user still see the Windows Desktop with the Start button?
No. The end user only sees the application that Thin Desktop has been configured to launch. If the end user closes that application, it will immediately start again. The end user has no access to anything other than the configured application.

What happens if I insert something like a USB mass storage device or insert a CD into a PC running Thin Desktop?
The end user will be unable to see anything locally on the PC. However, they would have access to those resources in an ICA or RDP session if it was enabled on the server side, or if it was a function allowed by the selected application.

Can I configure Thin Desktop to launch more than one application?
Not at this time. If the end user is connecting to a Citrix or Terminal Services environment, they can launch all applications necessary in that session. In the case of a Virtual XP-Pro session, all the user's applications and data would be accessible via the RDP connection to that Virtual session.

If the ThinDesktopUser is automatically logged in at boot, how do I break in as another user, such as administrator?
When logged in as ThinDesktopUser, press CTRL-ALT-DEL and choose Log Off while holding the left Shift key. Continue holding the Shift key until the logon dialog appears. This will allow a local account such as administrator to log on normally.

Will Windows Update and my Antivirus software still function even if Thin Desktop is controlling the PC?
Yes. Windows continues to run normally in the background. All services and background processes remain unmodified.

Can I install Thin Desktop onto a PC that is joined to a domain?
Yes. The PC itself can be joined to a domain and will have all of the Group Policy that is assigned to it.

Can Thin Desktop create a domain account on install instead of a local account?
Not at this time. For a more detailed discussion of domain accounts, please contact ThinLaunch Software.

Are Microsoft Updates and Antivirus updates required?
Yes. They are still required because the PC is still running Windows XP. You can use your existing management tools to accomplish these tasks. Nothing is changed with Thin Desktop that would prevent any other software from functioning.

Can I easily change the application the Thin Desktop is launching on boot?
Yes. The path to the executable launched by Thin Desktop is stored in the registry, and can be easily changed using your PC management tool. The appropriate registry keys are documented in the Thin Desktop User Guide.

Can I easily disable Thin Desktop once it is enabled?
Yes. Assuming you are logged in as user with the appropriate permissions, it can be disabled locally or by using your PC management tool by using the standard uninstall procedure.

As a Citrix customer, what advantages does Thin Desktop give me over a Thin Client?
As you may know, Citrix has added functionality that is only available in the Win32 ICA client, such as Universal Print Driver support , TWAIN support, and PDA USB synchronization. When using Thin Desktop in a Windows environment, you would be using the latest version of the Citrix Win32 ICA client with the security of a Thin Client.

Can I use Thin Desktop to connect to my Terminal Services machines automatically?
Yes. Thin Desktop can be configured to launch MSTSC.exe (RDP client) at boot to connect to your terminal services environment.

How does Thin Desktop function as an Internet Kiosk?
Simply configure Thin Desktop to launch IE. The end user would then be able to use IE , but will not be able to access the local operating system. This makes deploying a PC as an Internet Kiosk much faster, easier, and more secure. You will still need to use Windows Kiosk options to lock down the browser to your satisfaction as Thin Desktop relies on the MS Kiosk options to lock down the browser itself.

How about terminal emulation?
For those users who simply need access to an emulation session from their PC, Thin Desktop works well, too. Configure Thin Desktop to launch the locally installed emulation package on the PC and you have quickly and securely turned the PC into a device running a Terminal Emulation package, with no access to any other applications or settings on the Personal Computer.

How does Thin Desktop work with a VDI (or VDM) infrastructure?
Thin Desktop would simply connect (via RDP) to the VM session. There is no limitation regarding its access to a connection broker, which talks to Virtual Center® in order to connect a PC based user with his/her virtual XP-Pro VM session(s) running on an ESX server. It can also connect directly to the virtual machines via RDP without a connection broker, but it is obviously a manual process to configure this environment.

Why would I use a PC locked down with Thin Desktop rather than using a lower cost Thin Client?
There are many reasons, but the most obvious reason is that you can use Thin Desktop on your existing PCs without the need to purchase additional hardware, thereby extending the life of your PCs. Additionally, since the PC is running Window XP, all peripherals are supported, which isn't generally the case with a Thin Client. For example, if you wanted to attach a smart card reader or biometric device for use in the application designated by Thin Desktop, it will not be an issue because Windows XP drivers are available for almost all peripheral devices. The same cannot be said for drivers available on Thin Clients, especially as related to Universal Print Drive Support in the Citrix world.