I upgraded my PC at work which meant transferring all my old files and configuration from one computer to another. The pain is having 2 keyboards and 2 mice cluttering up my desk which is pretty messy already! Files and the like are easy to transfer; you can just set up shares and copy the stuff over - don’t get me started on windows copying. Keep an eye on Sourceforge for my application JustF’ingCopyIt, JustF’ingMoveIt or JustF’ingDoIt not sure which yet! It’s all the other bits that you want to move over like application configurations or the contents of ini files that you want to copy without the actual application.

This is where Synergy comes in. Synergy lets you use one keyboard and one mouse across multiple computer desktops. It makes it feel like you are using one computer with 2 monitors and not 2 computers. It is effortless to switch between the PCs. Cutting and pasting is shared between the two.

While it isn’t common, you can mix the platform desktops. Synergy shares a single mouse across Windows (XP/Vista/7), Mac OS X (10.4/10.5/10.6), Ubuntu/Debian, Fedora/Red Hat to provide a multiple desktop feel.

On each PC:
Download the application for the operating system you are using from :
http://synergy-foss.org/download

The setup is more like and X-Windows environment, in that your primary PC is a client to loads of other PCs that serve you.

Choose the PC that you are going to be primarily using as the master. If you are using them all equally then select the most powerful as the master and if they are all the same specification then pick the one closest to the door!

1. On the master load the Synergy program and make sure the Server (share this computer’s mouse and keyboard).
2. Click Configure Server….
3. Drag a picture of the monitor in the top right of the screen and place it where you would like it to appear in relation to you.
4. Double click it.
5. Change the Screen name to the name of the computer that will be connecting with you.
6. Click ok.
7. Then click Start and close when you are done.

On all the clients load the Synergy program and make sure the Client(use another computer’s keyboard and mouse). Enter the name of the master PC and click Start, and then close when you are done.

In both cases closing will move the application to the System Tray.