Control Two Computers with a Single Keyboard and Mouse

You have two computers on your desk and, in an effort to save space, you want to operate them using a single pair of keyboard and mouse.

There are two solutions here. If the computers are connected to the same network, you can use software programs like Input Director or Synergy to operate them with a common keyboard and mouse. In the other scenario where the machines aren't connected, you can get a KVM switch to share one keyboard and mouse between them.



Better Alternative to Synergy and KVM Switches
Input Director is reliable and (mostly) works without problems though it does require some understanding of the Master and Slave concept.

The best part about Mouse without Borders is how easy it is to set up. You install the utility on all your Windows computers, enter the security code provided by the software and your computers will get linked. This is almost as simple as pairing a set of Bluetooth devices.

Once installed, you can not only use the same keyboard and mouse across your computers in a seamless manner but you can also drag and drop files between them. This is so convenient. Earlier, we have to create shared network folders or had to use Dropbox to transfer files but now we can simple drag them from desktop A to desktop B as if they were on the same computer.

With the Mouse without Borders utility installed, you can also send screen capture of one desktop to another by pressing a hotkey or from the system tray menu. After having used the tool for about a week, we never experienced a crash though we did have problems sharing clipboard especially when the copy operation was done inside a Flash application.

Mouse without Borders can only be used to control Windows based computers. If your work environment involves a mix of Windows, Linux or Mac computers, Synergy could still be the only good choice for you.