Synergy is a powerful yet elegant program that allows you to share a single mouse and keyboard with multiple computers regardless of the OS, each with its own display.
Why Synergy? I use a laptop that I take to school and takes notes on using Microsoft OneNote. When I go home, I usually put my laptop on my desk but I always thought it was so unproductive to switch from keyboard/mouse every time I needed to switch from my computer and laptop. Synergy allows me to set up the program on both my computers, and allows me to share my keyboard/mouse between both of them by simply rolling my mouse from one screen to the other.
Setting up Synergy
First, download and install Synergy.
On your host computer, the computer you want to use keyboard/mouse, follow these instructions.
1. Open up Synergy.
2. Click on Advanced.
2a. Choose a Screen Name and Port number. I chose Diego as my screen name, and left Port Number as is.
2b. Click ok.
3. Click on Share this computer’s keyboard and mouse (server)
4. Click on Configure.
5. Create two screens. I created Diego and DiegoLaptop(name of client).
6. Create 2 links so your mouse can travel to and from your screens. I left the percentages as 100%.
Secondly, on the client computer, simply download, install Synergy, and open Synergy.
1. Click on Advanced.
2. Choose a screen name, I chose DiegoLaptop.
2a. I confirmed the port number was the same as the server.
2b. Click ok.
3. Click on Use another computer’s shared keyboard and mouse (client).
3a. Put in the name of your host, I put in Diego.
Lastly, simply Start both programs by click on the corresponding Start button on both computers!
You can share your keyboard/mouse between more computers, but I simply showed you how to do it between two.
Impressions of Synergy
I believe Synergy is a great utility. It allows me to share my keyboard/mouse effortlessly! It did take me awhile to figure out how to configure it, since there was no instructions on how to do so online.
So what are you waiting for? Why don’t you try it out and tell us how it went? If you still have trouble, post your comments below.
