Thin Client Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

This is where to start when looking for help with your Thin Client machine. It contains a list of handy tips and hints.

Thin Client Hints & Tips

Have a look at these useful nuggets of information - they may help to speed up your work, make tasks easier to perform and generally show you new and different ways of doing things on your computer.

Lock Workstation if you leave your computer unattended

If you leave your computer for a period of time, even for a few minutes, you need to stop people getting access to your files. Lock Workstation is a quick way to avoid having to log out when you leave and then log back in again when you return. Press <Ctrl> <F1> if you have a Viglen unit, or <Ctrl> <Alt> <Delete>, and then click the Lock Workstation button. Your thin client session is now securely locked, and nobody can access it without typing in your log in password. There is no need to close applications before you do this. When you come back, press <Ctrl> <Alt> <Delete> again and type in your password. Your machine will be returned to the exact state it was in just before you locked it.

To save time when logging out, just click Start, Shutdown...

You can save time when logging out by clicking on the Start button and then clicking on Shut Down... If you have Unix applications running and are logged in to another system (such as IRIS, LARES, etc.) then you need to log out of that first, but if all you have running are applications such as Word, Simeon, Internet Explorer etc. then there is no need to shut them all down manually before logging out - even if you have unsaved data in them. Once you have clicked Shut Down... Windows will ask each one to shut down in turn, and if there is unsaved data the application will prompt you to save it.

Use meaningful filenames on your H: drive

You can use long filenames when saving files. For example, instead of calling a file meetnot1 you could call it Meeting notes for 29th March 2007, which makes much more sense.

Create shortcuts to frequently used files and folders

You can create icons on your desktop that will take you straight into files and folders when you double-click on them. To set up a shortcut to a file/directory do the following:

  • Find the file by going through My Computer or Windows Explorer.
  • Move the mouse pointer over the icon for the file and click the right mouse button once.
  • Click the left mouse button on the Copy menu entry.
  • Move the mouse pointer to an empty area of the desktop and right-click.
  • Left-click on the Paste Shortcut menu entry.

You can rename the shortcut to anything you like (i.e. it does not have to have the same name as the file/directory it is pointing at). Bear in mind that if you rename or move the file/directory that a shortcut is pointing at the shortcut will stop working, and you'll have to delete it and re-create it. Deleting a shortcut does not delete the file that the shortcut is pointing to.

Customise your desktop

You can change the colours that your desktop is displayed in, and also the size and style of the text that is used on the desktop and in menus etc. To do this, right-click on an empty area of the desktop. Left-click on Properties. Click on the Appearance tab. You can now change how the Windows 2000 user interface looks by clicking on the part that you want to change in the example box at the top, and then altering the properties with the options in the lower part of the dialogue box.

You can also change where the Windows 2000 TaskBar sits on your screen. It defaults to the bottom of the screen, but you can click over an empty part of it and drag it to any edge of the screen.