2 PCs 1 monitor?

[Captain Ahab]

Anyone know where i can get the hardware to run 2 separate PCs off of one monitor and possibly the same keyboard and mouse? I want a switch that will allow me to switch between the 2 PC without having to add a monitor, keyboard and mouse to my already cluttered desk

If it comes in plaid that is always a plus :mrgreen:

 

[ihavenoideawhattoput]

You are looking fro what is called a KVM, here is alink to a good one with free shipping for $15.00

https://cgi.ebay.com/New-2-Port-USB..._EN_Networking_Components&hash=item5d2abcaaea

 

[Captain Ahab]

You Sir are my HERO


It is even in plaid!

 

[mephitic]

Input director could be a software solution, use it at home and work.

https://www.inputdirector.com/

 

[breachless]

Yeah, you could do a KVM switch (it might be standard now-a-days, but a few years ago, KVM switches did not typically come standard with USB, so make sure you specify USB if you have a USB keyboard and mouse or you will end up with the PS/2 style connectors which might end up being useless for you...)

Another option is Remote Desktop. It's a little bit more trouble, but it's free (assuming you are running Windows on both machines...) Remote Desktop allows you to log into another computer from your computer over your network. I have a computer at home that basically functions as a dedicated media server that holds all of my videos and music, and it sits in my utility room with nothing but an Ethernet cable plugged into it: when I need to use it, I just pull up remote desktop from my main PC and log into it. It's very handy, and I would be happy to walk you through how to do it.

You can also do VNC, but that is just a tad more complicated. Again, I would be happy to help you with this as well, but Remote Desktop is about as easy as it gets as far as free solutions are concerned.

 

[DocWatson]

Just to add some confusion to what has already been said, there is another option to use 2 "systems" on one PC setup (one CPU, one keyboard & mouse and one monitor). A dual boot setup. It is a bit techie to setup (partitions or a second HD), but it allows for two seperate systems, even different operating systems, if the hardware supports both operating system's requirements.

Not a good option if you need access to both operating systems at the same time, but it eliminates the need for the second CPU.

 

[breachless]

Just to add some confusion to what has already been said, there is another option to use 2 "systems" on one PC setup (one CPU, one keyboard & mouse and one monitor). A dual boot setup. It is a bit techie to setup (partitions or a second HD), but it allows for two seperate systems, even different operating systems, if the hardware supports both operating system's requirements.

Not a good option if you need access to both operating systems at the same time, but it eliminates the need for the second CPU.

Indeed: my laptop dual boots Windows 7 or the latest Ubuntu build.

And, to add even MORE confusion, you could install a Virtual Machine (VMware and Sun Microsystems' Virtual Box are both very very good) and then run as many virtual computers on your one computer as you want. Depending on the specs on your machine, you can do some really impressive and useful stuff. On my desktop at home I have Windows XP installed, and through virtual machines, I can run any flavor of Linux, Windows Server 2003, a test install of Windows 7, and a test install of Exchange Server. It's pretty fantastic actually: these installs are all fully operational. If you expand them to full screen, you would never know you were running a virtual machine within your existing Operating System: everything is virtually the same. Great way to test things without having to bust out a whole new PC.