Archive for category Utilities
Noteworthy software
Posted by Harv in Quick Tips, Troubleshooting, Utilities, Windows on December 30, 2009
Here’s some of the software I use on a day to day basis.
Just because I love these tools, doesn’t mean you will. I’ll discuss what I use and why.
Originally posted 2009-03-10 14:31:32.
Synergy Setup: Part 3
This will be the last in the Synergy series. If you haven’t read the first two, links are here:
Synergy Setup: Part 1
Synergy Setup: Part 2
Okay. We’ve come up with a naming scheme, installed synergy, set up our screens, and created our links. So far we’ve only really done any configuration on the server. Now we need to configure the client. In my case, that will be my desktop, because my laptop (Eagle2) has the peripherals I want to share.
Originally posted 2009-08-09 09:00:09.
Synergy Setup: Part 1
What you’ll need:
- Two computers, each with its own monitor
- At least one set of peripherals (keyboard, mouse)
- Synergy (http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/) on both computers
Okay. First, you need to find out the names of your computers. Remember, Synergy needs to know which computers to communicate with. You can use their names or their IP addresses, I suggest names simply because most people don’t use static IP addressing. If you do, you can opt to use the IP.
This can be done through the Control Panel, and selecting the System control panel.
I find it faster to click the start menu, right-click My Computer, and select Properties.
Once inside the panel, select the Computer Name tab.
System Control Panel
My setup includes my desktop, named Eagle1. I re-named my laptop Eagle2, to keep things simple. Now, when I get home, I tend to place my laptop on my desk, so that it sits just next to my desktop’s monitor. Instead of using my desktop peripherals, I thought it would be great to set up Synergy here so that I can use my laptop keyboard and portable mouse, swing my cursor across the screen and control my desktop.
First you must decide which will be the server and which will be the client. This will mainly depend on which computer has the peripherals you want to share. I set my laptop up as the server because it’s the laptops peripherals that I want to be able to use locally (on the laptop) as well as remotely (on the desktop).
So then, step one is as follow:
- Install Synergy on all machines
- Come up with a common naming scheme if you haven’t already, and rename machines as appropriate
- Decide which set of peripherals to spare, and resolve that that will be the server
Carry on to step 2! (http://learnwithharv.com/blog/synergy-setup-part-2/)
Originally posted 2009-08-07 14:59:34.
Synergy Setup: Part 2
If you haven’t yet seen part one, please refer to http://learnwithharv.com/blog/synergy-setup-part-1/ before continuing.
In step one, we installed synergy, decided which would be the server/client, and either came up with a common naming scheme, or wrote down the names of our computers for easy identification. Phew!
Okay, now we’re going to dive into Synergy – how to set it up, and how it works. Let’s start on the server.
Originally posted 2009-08-08 09:00:28.
Speeding up your PC
Posted by Harv in Quick Tips, Utilities, Windows on December 30, 2009
Quite often, a client will ask me to speed up their PC.
More times than not, they will be running Windows XP, with Office, some pictures, music, email. Here are the tools and process I use when I get these requests. Keep in mind that usually they don’t want this to be a big deal- an hour or two. So this is a very general “bang-for-buck” way of doing a general cleanup. Onward!
Originally posted 2008-12-25 21:41:00.
Synergy: Sharing your keyboard and mouse
Ever wanted to share a keyboard and mouse across multiple computers? Here’s how.
Let’s face it. Using one set of peripherals for a bunch of different computers sucks. Swapping your keyboard/mouse back and forth is a royal pain.
There are two solutions. The first, some of you will be familiar with. It’s called a KVM.
A KVM is a physical device. You plug your keyboard, a monitor and a mouse into it. Some of them also need to be plugged in to AC – others just draw power from your computer.
USB KVM’s tend to be quite flaky. On the other hand, PS/2 is long outdated. I can’t really suggest using a KVM unless you absolutely have to.
The second solution, and in my opinion, a much more elegant solution, is a piece of (free!) software. Now before I discuss it I must point out a few things;
- Unlike a KVM, there is no shared monitor. This means that all of the computers running this solution are sharing a keyboard and a mouse, but must have their own monitor.
- Being software, it is prone to software errors. If you’re not familiar with the OSI model, it is comprised of seven layers. Each layer can represent another thing that can go wrong. When a piece of software must work perfectly across a network, on two or more machines, that’s seven six layers per computer and one layer shared between the two computers, in which things can go wrong. (The one shared layer would be the physical layer.) If you’re not following, don’t worry. It’s the same risk you take when you rely on any networked application, and you need to be aware of that. As such;
- If your router should die, a cable become unplugged, or one of the computers turns off, the product will cease to function. This is obvious but bears stating.
Okay, enough! The software, then, is Synergy. Get it at http://synergy2.sourceforge.net/.
I will be posting a follow up to explain at length how to set it up with two computers.
Then I’ll make a video, just in case.
‘Till then.
Originally posted 2009-08-06 02:56:47.
Do Follow
Posted by Harv in Misc, Utilities on December 30, 2009
I’ve installed wordpress CommentLuv [commentluv.com] and doFollow plugins. Hopefully that will encourage people to actively post comments!
Originally posted 2009-04-21 01:08:17.
commentluv, dofollow, plugin, wordpress
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