This time the goal is not so much to control multiple PCs on the network distant from each other but to meet the need to be able to use two computers attached to two nearby monitors by making them share the keyboard and mouse. But this is not a remote control as illustrated in another post, where one of the PCs controls the others that are located in different places.
In this case, you do not want the desktop of the other computer to appear as a window on the screen of the main PC, the goal is to share the keyboard and mouse with two PCs equipped with monitors .
With an example, let's try to understand better what I am talking about and to deviate if it is something that can be useful or if we stop reading.
The most classic practical case is to keep a PC at home and want to use it via the laptop.
I remove the keyboard from the desktop, place my laptop on the table, near the monitor used by the desktop, turn them on and, with the keyboard and mouse of the laptop, I use both PCs and both monitors as if I had an extended desktop and a double calculation capacity.
The only requirement is that the two PCs are connected together on the network, not that they both go on the internet but that they are connected to each other anyway, which always happens inside a home or office.
In other articles we have the guides to configure an ad hoc wireless network between two PCs with Windows XP or Windows Vista.
1) If this can be of interest, I would like to point out that it is possible with ease of configuration and using a program developed only for this purpose.
Input Director works only on Windows and allows a "Master" PC to share the keyboard and the mouse and to be able to use it to control also another computer called "Slave".
Input director must be installed following the wizard made of Next Next Next, on both computers and started from the Start menu.
In the configuration panel, the "Master" function is enabled on one PC, on the other hand the "Enable as Slave" button is pressed.
On the Slave computer, for simplicity, you can leave the option that allows any machine to control this computer, as it is almost impossible to be hacked by such an unpopular program.
If you are more scrupulous you can enter the name of the Mater or the IP range.
On the Master computer instead you must add the IP of the slave to be controlled by clicking "Add" under the Slave System tab.
On the window above there is the graphics of the arrangement of the monitors that can be changed.
Since the transition from one PC to another is only to move the mouse left or right, you can choose who is on the right and who is on the left between two computers.
As if you had a desktop extended on two monitors, this time you have two computers and two different monitors on which you can work from the same keyboard and mouse position.
The mouse cursor going to the other monitor disappears from where it was and appears on the other desktop and at that moment the keyboard works for the other PC.
Among the Global Preferences there is the option to start Input Director when the computer starts and whether to set it with master or slave startup; this in case you get used to using the double pc.
2) If instead you want to use the same mouse and the same keyboard to control computers with different operating systems, you must use the Synergy program.
Synergy supports Windows, Mac OS and Unix, Linux and Sun Solaris operating systems .
The additional feature of Synergy is the ability to copy and paste between different computers in order to move files or copy them from one PC to another without problems even if you cannot drag and drop.
Synergy is also easily configured by setting IP addresses and configuring servers and clients according to the PC to which the keyboard is attached and where the mouse is used for both.
3) Logitech Flow allows you to control two or more Windows or Mac computers with the same mouse, even if it requires the use of a compatible Logitech mouse.
4) Microsoft Mouse without Borders is an excellent program for controlling up to 4 computers with a single mouse and keyboard.
Compared to Synergy, with the Microsoft Mouse program you can also transfer files between the various controlled computers and copy and paste them.
5) Another program to control two PCs with a single keyboard is Win2VNC, a small free application that allows you to use two computers with a single keyboard, as if it were connected to both.
6) The Sharemouse program is also excellent, very easy to use which allows you to share a mouse and keyboard with two computers.
This program is also portable and works on both Windows and Mac and is free for personal use, provided that no more than two PCs are used.
7) Multiplicity allows you to use the same mouse and a single keyboard on two networked ones.
