Use the Same Keyboard + Mouse with Multiple Computers
Control two networked computers with the same keyboard and mouse using Synergy, a free program available from SourceForge.net. It’s available for all platforms, but we’ll delve mainly into the Windows usage. Install the latest version for all the computers you want to control, plus the computer with the controlling keyboard and mouse.
For the Host Computer
The host computer is plugged into the controlling mouse and keyboard, and other client computers (the computers you will control) will connect to it.
For the server, select Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse. Then click Configure. When you first see this screen, it’ll be blank. Click the + button under screens.
Enter your computer’s name. Hit OK. Then hit the + button again, and insert the name of the computer that will connect to you.
Now we’ll need to link up the screens.
- The first drop down will be the side of your screen that you will move into to control the other computer (Client is to the right of Server, so put Right).
- The second drop down will be the name of the server.
- The third drop down will be the name of the client computer.
Click the + button when you’re done, and repeat, but do the opposite (tell it the server is right of the client). When you feel you’ve configured everything correctly, hit the Start button.
For the Client Computer(s)
For this screen, select Use another computer’s shared keyboard and mouse. Enter the name of the computer you will be connecting to. When you’re done, click Start (or test if you want to test the connection first.)
I'm Jason, the main author of Third Error, and many of the topics I'll focus on concern Windows (and applicable software), web applications, web design, and a bit of *nix (Ubuntu mainly). My computer runs Windows XP, with virtualized Ubuntu and OS X handy.