winthinpc - quick start guide

Preview Quick Start Guide

©2011 Microsoft. All Rights Reserved

Introduction

This Quick Start is your first step in the Windows Thin PC Community Technical Preview (CTP) participation. You will learn about a few of the new features available in Windows Thin PC as well as the basics of installation. On completion, you will have a full installation of Windows Thin PC. We encourage you to then install your Thin PC solution as well as your management and monitoring solutions to verify that they all perform as expected, equivalent to their operation on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate.

Look for additional documents on the Windows Thin PC Connect site for step-by-step guidance of product functionality throughout the duration of the preview program.

Highlights

Windows Thin PC is based on Windows 7 and benefits from many of the new features available in Windows 7 that are sure to enhance Thin PC deployments, including:

Security Enhancements

Building upon the security enhancements of Windows 7, Windows Thin PC responds to the enterprise’s need to make the system more manageable and to contain the right security enhancements to help combat the continually evolving threat landscape. While not an exhaustive list, there are a number of features that will help to better secure your device, including AppLocker, BitLocker, Enhanced Auditing, and Streamlined User Account Control. For additional information about the Security Enhancements, please refer to http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548337(WS.10).aspx.

Power Management

Today, more organizations are focusing on power management as a way of reducing costs. Windows 7 power-management technologies provide platform and processor efficiencies that reduce power consumption, helping lower energy costs. The following video will provide an introduction to some of the power management features available to Windows Thin PC: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee524728.

Manageability Enhancements

Windows Thin PC introduces a number of manageability improvements that can reduce the total cost of ownership by helping to increase automation and provide flexible administrative control to meet compliance requirements. For an overview of these features, please see http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd443489(WS.10).aspx.

Embedded Enhancements

In addition to Windows 7 functionality, Windows Thin PC has incorporated a number of embedded specific enhancements to help lock down public facing devices, including Write Filters for creating stateless or semi-stateless environments, suppression of unwanted dialog message boxes, and a keyboard filter for suppressing unwanted keystrokes such as CTRL+ALT+DEL, ALT+F4, Windows+L, as well as custom defined keystroke combinations.

Hardware Requirements

Recommended Hardware Configuration

1 GHz or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor

1 GB RAM, 16 GB available hard disk space

DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or later version driver

Bootable DVD-ROM drive

NOTE: We recommend that you install Windows Thin PC on a computer that has at least 16 GB of available disk space. Various features in Windows Thin PC can quickly increase the disk space requirements. For optimal performance of the hard disk, you need at least 15 percent free space at all times and sufficient space for the paging file, which might be up to two times the size of the system’s RAM.

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd548337(WS.10).aspx


http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee524728

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/ee524728





Additional requirements to use certain features:

Internet access

Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware

BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2

BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive

Product functionality and graphics may vary based on the system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

Computers with multi-core processors:

Windows Thin PC is designed to work with today's multi-core processors. It supports up to 32 processor cores.

Computers with multiple processors (CPUs):

Windows Thin PC supports two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers.

Preparing the DVD from the ISO image

An ISO file, also called a disc image, is a single file that’s a copy of an entire data CD or DVD. When you burn a CD or DVD from an ISO file, the new disc has the same folders, files, and properties as the original disc. The most common way to get an ISO file is to download it from a website. For example, you might download and then use an ISO file to update software on your computer.

You can burn a disc image file, which often has either an .iso or .img file name extension, to a recordable CD or DVD by using Windows Disc Image Burner. Whether you can burn it to

a recordable CD, DVD, or Blu‑ray Disc depends on your disc burner and the type of discs it can burn, the size of the disc image file, as well as the device on which you plan to use the disc.

1. Insert a recordable CD, DVD, or Blu‑ray Disc into your disc burner.

2. Open Computer by clicking the Start button, and then clicking Computer.

3. In Windows Explorer, find the disc image file, and then double-click it.

4. If you have more than one disc burner, from the Disc burner list in Windows Disc Image Burner, click the burner that you want to use.

5. (Optional) If you want to verify that the disc image was burned correctly to the disc, select the Verify disc after burning check box.

If the integrity of disc image file is critical (for example, the disc image file contains a firmware update), you should select this check box.

6. Click Burn to burn the disc.

Notes

If a third-party CD or DVD burning program is installed on your computer, that program might open when you double-click the disc image file. If this happens, and you want to use Windows Disc Image Burner to burn the CD or DVD from the disc image file instead, right-click the disc image file, and then click Burn disc image.



You cannot create disc image files using Windows Disc Image Burner. To create a disc image file, you need to install and use a third-party CD or DVD burning program or other program that lets you create disc image files from a CD or DVD.



Installing Windows Thin PC

Any computer that meets or exceeds the hardware requirements can run Windows Thin PC. You can perform an interactive installation of Windows Thin PC by completing the following steps:

1. Turn on the computer and insert the Windows Thin PC DVD into the computer’s DVD-ROM drive. When prompted, press a key to start the Setup program from the DVD.

Figure 1: Boot from DVD

2. Choose your time format, currency format, keyboard layout, and then click Next.

Note: English is the only language supported at installation. This is an English-only CTP release.

Figure 2: Language Options

3. Click Install Now to start the installation. Setup will copy

temporary files and then start.

Figure 3: Install now

4. Read the Microsoft Software License Terms. Click “I accept the license terms”, and then click Next.

Figure 4: License Terms

5. Specify the installation type as Custom (Advanced) to install a clean copy of Windows Thin PC.

Important:



Upgrading from a prior version of Windows is not supported by Windows Thin PC.

Figure 5: Installation Type

6. When prompted for an installation location, select the disk drive where you want to install the operating system, and then click Next.

Tip Click on Drive options (advanced) to expose additional functionality such as Delete (remove partition), New (new partition) and Format to customize the configuration of your storage device.

Figure 6: Installation Target

Setup will then start the installation. During this process, Setup copies Windows Thin PC to the disk you have selected. Next, Setup will install drivers for the detected hardware. This process requires several automatic restarts. When Setup finishes the installation, the operating system will be loaded and the system will be set up for first use.



7. When prompted, enter a user name for the local administrator account, enter a name for the computer, and then click Next.

Figure 7: User Account and Computer Name

8. Type and confirm a password, enter a password hint, and

then click Next.

Figure 8: Password for your account

9. When prompted for the Windows product key, skip this screen to activate evaluation copy of Windows Thin PC:

Figure 9: Product Key

Note: This is an evaluation product key that will activate the image for 90 days, however the Windows Thin PC Preview release is set to expire on 10/31/2011, after which this release will stop functioning.



10. Select a Windows Update option for the computer.

Figure 10: Updates

Note: Typically, an enterprise should manage updates from Windows Update using a centralize management solution such as Microsoft Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) or Microsoft System Center Configuration Manager. This allows the enterprise to schedule updates to specific machine groups, such as a test environment prior to advertising the updates to the production environment.

11. Review the date and time settings, make changes as necessary, and then click Next.

Figure11: Time and Date Settings

12. If a network card is detected during setup, networking components are installed automatically. Based on the selection, Windows Thin PC will configure networking for this location.

Figure 12: Current Location

13. Once Setup is finished, Windows Thin PC will prepare and display the desktop.

Figure 13: Finalizing Settings



Providing Feedback

Your feedback is important on this CTP release. Our goal is to produce a product that satisfies the needs of your enterprise solutions, but we need your help in validating. We value your input.

The product teams can address issues submitted in detailed, clearly-written reports more quickly and efficiently than ones submitted in reports which are unclear or lack detailed information and reproduction steps.

Submitting Feedback

How to submit a bug or suggestion through the Windows Thin PC connect website:

1. Log into connect and select the Windows Thin PC connect website.

2. Click on the Feedback link in the left-hand pane then Search for existing reports using keywords that related to the feedback you are reporting.

3. If the search does not find any results click on the Submit Feedback button in the left-hand pane.

4. Select one of the following connect feedback forms by clicking on the appropriate hyperlink presented.

5. Fill in the forms with as much detail as possible. 6. Optional: Attach any files as needed. 7. Click Submit at the bottom of the form.

Tips for Providing Useful Feedback

Write your report clearly so that anyone can understand your request or reproduce the problem you are reporting. Avoid using jargon or abbreviated words because the person reading the feedback may not be familiar with the terms. If you have difficulty following your own steps to reproduce the problem, chances are that others will have difficulty as well.

Test your feedback before submitting. Do the steps to reproduce the problem you encountered consistently? Did you forget to write down a step? Walking through your feedback before submitting helps ensure that your report is complete and contains enough information for us to research the problem effectively.

Too often we receive feedback but we are unable to take action because the feedback is unclear or is missing important information. When this happens, our only recourse is to resolve the feedback as “Not Repro” and to request additional

information. This delays our ability to address the problem and may ultimately result in a change getting postponed to a future release.

Report workarounds in the Steps to Reproduce field. If you have a workaround, include step-by-step instructions in your bug report.

Follow the recommended format. Include a detailed description, numbered reproduction steps, expected results, actual results, and any discussion or comments, including recommendations or workarounds.

Guidelines

If your feedback does not follow the below guidelines there is a high likelihood that it will be sent back to you for additional information.

Submit one problem or issue per report. One problem at a time is easier to reproduce, track, and fix.

Attach files, screenshots and logs to every report. We rely on all this information to troubleshoot problems accurately.

Use a clear and understandable title. We look at a lot of feedback. Make your feedback stand out by using a clear and understandable title.

Create clear and detailed repro steps. If we cannot reproduce the issue, it is almost impossible to take action on the issue.

Attach screenshots. For any UI issues, a screenshot is extremely useful. Also think about when a screenshot can be used to more clearly communicate your issue. Please do not use screenshots to be a substitute for text such as a specific error message.

https://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/program6810

https://connect.microsoft.com/windowsembedded/feedback/

winthinpc - quick start guide

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