Stateless Drive Laptops? Desktops?

[Paperlantern]

I'm looking for a solution that will give me the capability to make basically dumb terminal windows machines. Set a specific image with any software we want, drivers, etc. Snapshot that and boot to it each time the computer loads. Can make any changes to the computer you want, save files, get a virus, even delete the windows folder if you want to, as soon as the machine is powered down and rebooted, it comes up exactly as it did the last time it booted. NOTHING is saved.

I'm hoping to do this with open source and free programs, however will try purchased software as well if it will do what i'm looking to do.

What i'm envisioning is a virtual machine that loads the host OS transparently and immediately boots into the guest VM, full screen, with no menus or bars to allow you to get out of it unless you press a certain key combination that IT would know for troubleshooting, or even image update needs. I may be way off here, but i'm hoping someone has a way of doing this. With VM's or without, I'm game.

 

[yinan]

Look into Citrix Provisioning server and/or XenDesktop.

 

[Paperlantern]

From what I see on XenDesktop, you have to connect to it through a web browser. plus its a Client/Server type thing. What I'm really looking for is a self contained solution that would be installed on a hard drive. This is more for Laptops in the field than anything else, though I would like to use it here in the office for a training room scenario as well.

From the demos Ive seen, to access the virtual desktop, you have to have a OS installed on the machine anyway so you can open a web browser. This is superfluous, I want the machine to be a dumb terminal, the OS the user sees initialy, IS the virtual desktop environment. Any changes they make are not saved on reboot.

 

[quikah]

There are dumb terminals for VMware View and Xen Desktop (Wyse makes some, possibly others). This would let you do exactly what you described.

Wyse makes some laptop form factors devices also which might work for what you want, I am not familiar with their laptop product, so do some research on that.

 

[stlcardinals]

SteadyState would be the answer for you, if Microsoft hadn't of killed it off.

Faronic's Deep Freeze will do what you want, it's a licensed product though.

You could always go the Group Policy route, crank UAC all the way up, software restriction policies, make them run Limited User accounts, etc.

 

[Paperlantern]

Well, I downloaded Deep Freeze. And it does work, I just am having a hard time getting the CONSOLE to see the client I am testing on. It says the client will use UDP to tell the server its there, but on the console i have nothing. Firewall is off. I am only looking to use this though on a few laptops for the most part so the console isnt TERRIBLY important, it may still be a viable solution. Thanks for the info.