We have all read or heard company announcements about how a particular merger is going to create synergy between the companies. A fancy way of saying that we can let a lot of people go, and maybe continue to offer some modicum of customer service. All right enough from the soapbox – onto our story…
I was alerted to a well-written small utility that makes using more than one computer absolutely enjoyable. The small blurb on the product web site says it very well…
Synergy lets you easily share a single mouse and keyboard between multiple computers with different operating systems without special hardware. It’s intended for users with multiple computers on their desk since each system uses its own display.
The only caveat is that each computer must be connected to the same network. If they are sitting besides one another on a desk it is likely that they do reside on the same network. The computers can run different operating systems including MAC OSX, Windows, or even Linux.
Using Synergy is easy. Setup can be just a bit confusing. We will walk through a simple two-workstation setup. Download the application choosing i386 for a Windows computer and other platforms for Linux or MAC. Install the program as you would any other. Once installed you will find the application in your Start Menu; All Programs on a Windows computer.
We will start with the host workstation. You can choose either workstation to be your host or client. If you have three then your host should be the common computer that you use most of the time. Click the radio button beside “Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server).” Click the “Configure…” button. Under the screens box click on the + sign. Enter the name of this computer in Screen Name. I stick to the computer name because mine are very descriptive, but you can choose whatever you like. Do not worry about the other settings. Those are only used if you run into strange issues with Nums Lock, etc. Add the name of your second computer in this box as well.
You will now need to setup links. In the bottom choose the direction of one screen to another using the drop-down boxes. Click OK.
Install the software on your second computer, and open the program as you did on the first. Click on “Use another computer’s shared keyboard and mouse(client)”. Enter the name of your first computer in the Host Name box. Click Start.
Go back to the first computer and press test. If everything has been setup correctly then you should now be able to navigate your cursor from one screen to another. If you are satisfied with this setup then you can end the test and go back to the main dialog box and click start. One more important option is AutoStart… This button will open a dialog box with two options. You can choose to start when the computer starts or when you log into the computer. If you decide to autostart then be sure to also set the same on your second computer.
Using Synergy once it is setup is very easy. You can drag the cursor from one screen to another using your mouse. Whichever screen is holding the cursor will capture any typing on your keyboard. You can also copy and paste from a shared clipboard between the screens. This copy and paste is limited to text. You will not be able to transfer files using the clipboard.