How to Upgrade Laptop Memory

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory - Introduction

We show you how to upgrade laptop memory simply, giving your laptop PC a new lease of life.

Installing more memory in any PC, laptop or desktop, will give a great boost to its performance.

It should be reasonably cheap and easy to upgrade laptop memory on any laptop built after around 2003 giving you a significant performance increase and allowing you to run multiple applications smoothly with less lag.

Many laptops will come with only a small amount of RAM installed and this can significantly drag down performance, especially if your laptop does not have a dedicated graphics card with its own separate memory. 

You see most laptops will use an integrated ‘on-board’ graphic adapter and will share the system memory, thereby reducing the memory available for Windows to run programs and applications.

Windows will then have to use the laptops hard disk drive for temporary storage which, especially in a laptop with slower running hard disk drives, slows down your performance even further.

Another consequence of this is battery life – your hard disk drive spinning up and down all the time will unnecessarily drain that battery of yours far more quickly!

So, now the benefits of performing a laptop memory upgrade are threefold – smoother running, able to open and run more applications at the same time and extended battery life!

Is all this going to be expensive? Not at all – a memory upgrade is one of the best ‘bang for your buck’ upgrades you can perform – laptop or desktop PC.

Laptop memory modules have a smaller footprint than their desktop counterparts due to the space constraints of a laptop but basically they use the same technology. 

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory – RAM types

Most laptops in use today use DDR type memory in a variety of bus speeds such as PC2100, PC2700 & PC3200.

There are three main types of laptop memory in circulation, SDRAM, DDR RAM and DDR2 RAM. You will need to find out which type your laptop uses before you can proceed any further.

To determine which type of memory module your laptop requires you should refer to your user manual or go to the manufacturer’s website which should detail the type of memory you require.

Failing that, a quick search on Google should get you pointed in the right direction.

The latest laptops will use the DDR2 type of memory available in PC2-3200 speed and upwards.

You will find the simplest way to get information regarding the correct type of memory to use will be by visiting one of the major memory manufacturer’s websites and using their configuration tools.

Visit www.crucial.com and use their ‘configuration tool’ or try their ‘System Scanner tool’ if your laptop isn’t listed.

Don’t worry if the only memory available is a bit faster than you need – as long as it’s the correct type, i.e. SDRAM, DDR or DDR2 you should be fine.

Some laptops and desktop PCs gain extra performance by configuring their memory to run in ‘dual-channel’ mode which requires two identical memory modules to be used so remember that to take advantage of this you will need to replace both modules as a pair when upgrading.

Check that you don’t overdo the laptop memory upgrade beyond that which your operating system can cope with!

Windows XP and Vista will handle up to 4GB but older operating systems will not. 

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory – Installing Your Memory

Where exactly is your laptop memory located?

Most laptops will locate the memory under a cover in the base of the laptop but some have the memory hidden away under the keyboard. 

Refer to your user manual for help in determining access to your laptops memory.

Remember – laptop memory is extremely sensitive to electrostatic discharge and should be handled accordingly.

Use an anti-static wrist strap or at the very least ensure that you ‘ground’ yourself to a good earth connection to discharge any built up charge on your body before handling your memory modules for your laptop.

Handle the modules by the edge of the circuit board and do not touch the chips or edge connector strips.

Make sure that your laptop is completely shutdown and as a precaution remove the power adaptor and battery pack before removing your old memory and replacing it with new memory.

If your laptops memory modules are located under a cover on the underside of your laptop carefully place your closed laptop upside down on a soft surface covered table top and locate the screw or screws which lock the access panel in place. 

Once removed you will be able to pull or slide the cover open.

You may need to slide the cover over small plastic catches but there shouldn’t be any great resistance. 

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory – Keyboard Removal

Laptop memory located under the keyboard will require removal of the keyboard first – check your manual for details on this.

Usually there will be some screws hidden under small plastic covers which will need to be removed first before gaining access.

Removal of the keyboard must be undertaken very carefully and you should take extra care not to damage the delicate ribbon cable attached between your laptop and keyboard when removing it.

Carefully rest the keyboard on the laptop hand rest area ensuring that you do not pull, twist or tear the ribbon cable.

Now locate your laptop memory which again may be hidden under a cover of some sort. 

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory – Swapping Out the Memory

Release the old memory modules if already fitted to your laptop by releasing them from the small catches at either side of your memory modules. 

The module will spring upwards and you will then be able to remove it, taking care to ensure that you hold the module by the edges only. 

Now to install your new modules – take care to align the slot in the connector edge up carefully with the laptop memory slot.

Slot carefully in to place and then push the outer edge of the module down slowly until it clicks into place with the small catches – the module will start at an angle then end up flat, held in place by the catches. 

If you have more than one module you should now install the second module which is usually installed above the first in a similar arrangement. 

How to Upgrade Laptop Memory – Powering Up

Now to fire up! – replace your access cover and keyboard if you had to remove it and ensure that you refit all of the screws that you removed – we don’t want any left inside either now do we!

Now you can replace the laptop battery pack and AC adapter if required and turn on your laptop.

Enter the BIOS during boot up and confirm that the memory is recognised and that the correct amount is displayed.

If your laptop fails to power up correctly or doesn’t recognise all of your RAM then turn off immediately and carefully check over all that you have done.

More than likely one or both sticks of RAM are not located correctly.

If this fails you will need to double check that you have bought the correct type of memory – compare it against the old memory that you have removed earlier.

If this fails try one module at a time – if this works replace the working module with the other module in the same slot and confirm that this module also works.

Make sure you haven’t installed more memory than your laptop can support.

For users of laptops with older operating systems prior to Windows XP (Windows 95, 98 or ME) you will only be able to install a maximum of 512MB due to the limitations of the Windows operating system you are using.

Once you are up and running a very useful facility for checking memory operation is the Memtest 86+ program which gives your memory a thorough workout and ensures that your memory is running correctly.

It’s a free utility and can be downloaded from www.memtest.org/#downiso.

Download the utility which you can then install onto a CD-ROM as a bootable CD that you can boot your laptop up from and use to confirm correct operation of your memory.

If all else fails replace your old memory and check that the laptop is working correctly before repeating the above.

Hopefully with your new laptop memory upgrade you can now feel the benefits with a super fast, smooth running machine :) 

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Data Backup

You will see mention a number of times within this site about the importance of regular data backup.

To be honest, until you have experienced losing your own data you’re not going to fully appreciate just how important this is.

Seriously, the first time this happens you’re going to be so, so angry with yourself if you haven’t made provision for a data backup, and a regular one at that!

And if you’re working on some document or other that is really important to you, or perhaps for your work, then you do need to ensure that you are properly backed up.

Ok, enough of the lecturing lets investigate our data backup options. 

Back Me Up

So, what data should you make sure you’re backing up?

Let’s make a list of the most likely files and folders that you should be thinking of.

• My Documents Folder
• Digital Photographs
• Email Address Book
• MP3 and Music Files
• Video Files
• Accounts Data
• Project Data or Files
• Internet Explorer Bookmarks
• Software Downloaded from the Internet

That should be enough to get you thinking – what else would you consider you would be lost without if a failure occurred with your PC?

Sorry, that should read ‘when a failure occurs’!

Before you go down the data backup route, take a little time to make sure your files are in some sort of logical order.

This will make it a lot easier to organize your backup and to know where to look for various files when you come to reinstall them if needs be after a failure or if a file becomes corrupted for instance.

Now, on to back up hard drive options.

Hardware Backup

You need to decide where you will be storing all you’re back up data.

Here are a few of the most common choices.

• A separate partition on your PCs hard drive, i.e. partition your PCs hard disk drive so that it has a C: and D: drive available for access. Your data and programs will all be on the C: drive partition but you will backup all your important files and folders to your D: drive partition
• A shared network drive on another PC on your network
• An external hard disk drive attached when required or permanently via a USB interface
• A RAID mirrored set of drives
• A Home Network Attached Storage Device
• A second hard disk drive within your PC for data backup

All of the above options will have their pros and cons and the most important thing for you to do, once you have decided upon which option suits you best, is to ensure that you do actually carry out a regular hard drive backup.

Get organized, set aside a regular time to do this.

You can instruct Windows to do this for you or you can install a third party piece of software to organize this all for you.

We would recommend that you consider an external backup of some sort as the safest option available to you.

Backup With a Simple Touch!

Maxtor ‘OneTouch’ external hard drives offer a simple option with backup being automated to occur at a particular time of day of your choice and the facility to backup at any time using the front panel ‘OneTouch’ button.

Just written an important document and want to ensure that it’s backed up immediately?, just hit the ‘OneTouch’ button and you’re all safe and secure!

The Maxtor ‘OneTouch’ is available in various sizes depending upon your budget, from 160GB up to a massive 1TB!

Good Enough?

The external hard drive will protect you against your primary hard drive in your PC failing and accidental deletion of files.

It is still susceptible though to power surges and system viruses or Trojan horses etc.

This leads us to the next option – read on for our recommended 'bells and whistles' backup plan.

Online Backup

Why would you want to go down the online data backup route rather than organizing your own backup?

Well, probably the best and most important reason you might choose to do this is the assurance that you won’t lose your important data due to any potential mishap with your PC or hardware backup facility that you may have set up at home.

Let’s see, if you choose to go down the RAID mirror route for instance and your PC power supply fails with a fault that causes damage to your hardware then you may well lose both / all RAID mirrored disks!

Or you may just fail to do an automated backup successfully and when you come to reinstate your data after a failure or whatever, you find your precious data just isn’t backed up as you had envisaged.

With an online backup scenario you will have access to your backed up files no matter what disaster befalls your PC.

An online backup is probably the safest route to take, for the home PC user, to ensure peace of mind against losing their precious data.

Which online service would we recommend?

Well, there are a number of services on offer but the one we would recommend for ease of use, functionality and pure value for money has to be Carbonite.

The latest version, Carbonite 3.5 offers a year’s online backup for around $50 with free upgrades and support for both Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 platforms.

Carbonite provides an incremental style of backup once the initial file selection has been made.

A wizard is used initially to allow you to choose which folders / data you require to be backed up.

Auto Pilot

Once set up the process is completely automatic and the folders you have selected will be incrementally backed up in the background without you having to instruct the program to do anything.

The connection is secure and encrypted and the moment you add or modify files, Carbonite will automatically backup your data via your internet connection.

And what’s more, there is no limit to the amount of data that you can back up!

If you need to add files and folders then this can be achieved with a simple right click of your mouse.

File recovery is again performed with a simple 'right click and select' option. 

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Speed Up My PC

Speed Up My PC – Introduction

Help me speed up my PC you cry!

Remember how super fast and responsive your PC used to be?

A quick click of your mouse and up popped your browser or application or whatever.

But now things are a little different aren’t they?

Does your PC seem more than a little sluggish to you as you sit there drumming your fingers on the desk waiting for your slow computer to finally start up?

Well, unfortunately over time all PCs and laptops will slow down purely due to you using them! 

But I’m supposed to be able to use it you say! Of course you are but you see as we use them and install new applications and programs and download various files etc your poor old PC becomes more than a little bloated and struggles to keep up with finding fragmented files strewn across your hard drive and running various background applications which probably aren’t even needed and, to be blunt, you can’t even remember installing!Yes it’s a slow steady decline and it happens to us all whether you’re using a desktop PC or laptop and the time may well have arrived to take the bull by the horns and do something about it.
But what exactly do I do about it you may ask?
Where can I find out how to speed up my PC?
Don’t worry we’re going to help you get your PC running super fast once again.
Now, it may well be that time has moved on and your PC simply just isn’t up to running all the latest and greatest applications and operating systems – maybe what you really need is to upgrade your processor, motherboard, memory and graphics card.
Only you can decide if this is the case – perhaps take a look at our PC Buying Guide section to compare our recommended specs against your own PCs specification and decide if perhaps you need to purchase or build a new computer.
Ok, well assuming you are quite happy with your PC just as it is but want to speed up your PC and get it back running smoothly again we’ll look at a number of tasks you can carry out simply yourself to save a bundle on buying a new PC or getting a ‘geek’ in to look at your PC for you.
Once you get to grips with the following tips and techniques make sure that you follow them on a regular basis to keep your PC in ‘tip top’ condition. 

Speed Up My PC – Hard Drive Clearout

Firstly we need to get rid of any unwanted programs and free up some hard disk drive space.A lot of the programs you have added in the past will be configured to run when Windows starts up – over time you will have noticed that your PC takes longer and longer to boot up, it’s all down to the bloatware that you’ve added!
Lots of people nowadays have massive hard disk drives and the natural assumption is that it doesn’t matter that you’ve downloaded and added a multitude of applications and add-ons – hey, there’s plenty of room on my hard drive, I don’t need to worry about it, might come in useful at some point!
Ok, time to get a little ruthless and cut out all the unwanted and frankly useless rubbish that is bloating your hard drive and slowing it down.
Don’t think, ‘but I might need this’, do think 'I need to speed up my PC and it'll help if I get rid of some of the clutter on my hard drive!'
If you don’t generally use it – you can always download it again if you find that you need it in the future. 

Speed Up My PC – Backup and System Restore!

Before you do anything to your PCs files and programs you – and I can’t stress this enough – MUST make sure that you have a backup of all of your important data and files etc.Don’t risk loosing your data – you will not be able to get it back!
You have been warned!
The next most important thing you must do before proceeding is to create a ‘System Restore’ point.
You might easily delete a file of folder by accident which could cause your system to stop functioning, become unstable or in some cases unbootable!
Back up your data and create a ‘System Restore’ point and you will be able to return your PC to its former working state should things go wrong – omit this stage and you very well may not!
Not sure what or how to backup? Read our Data Backup page for guidelines on this.
‘System Restore’ can be found under ‘Start’ > ‘All Programs’ > ‘Accessories’ > ‘System Tools’.

You will need to ‘Create a restore point’, click on ‘Next’ and give the restore point a meaningful name such as ‘Before de-bloat’ and then click on ‘Create’.If your PC won’t boot up at any point during your cleanup simply press ‘F8’ on your keyboard while attempting to boot up and go into the ‘Windows Advanced Options’ menu.
One option will be ‘Last known Good Configuration’ – select this to activate your restore point.
Ok, that done with on to removing that clutter from our hard drive. 

Speed Up My PC – Add or Remove Programs

Go to ‘Add or Remove Programs’ in ‘Control Panel’ and go through the list of programs individually deleting all the ones you don’t require any more or don’t use on a regular basis.Windows own ‘Add or Remove Programs’ will do a fine job of removing most programs but occasionally you will come across a stubborn program that just will not be removed!
This is annoying to say the least – not to worry though; we can now use the Windows ‘regedit’ registry editor program to remove these stubborn files manually.

Speed Up My PC - Registry Editor

Now we must stress here that editing the Windows registry is not for those who are unsure of what they are doing – one false move and you may well get yourself into trouble so if you are at all unsure leave the registry well alone!Once again, make sure that you have backed up all of your important data and created a ‘System Restore Point’ before going any further with this!
Click on ‘Start’ > ‘Run’ and type ‘regedit’ in the text box that appears, you will be presented with the Registry Editor.

Browse down to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Uninstall.You should see all the items contained in the ‘Add or Remove Programs’ list here – each will have its own key.
Look down through the Keys to identify the one containing the program you are trying to remove.
You may need to view the contents of each Key one by one until you find the program that you are trying to remove – once done, right click the entry and choose ‘Delete’.
Now you can go back to ‘Add or Remove Programs’ and you will see that the program you wanted to delete is no longer listed – Success! 

Speed Up My PC – Manual Cleanup

When you have finished deleting all of your unwanted programs, whether via ‘Add or Remove Programs’ or with the addition of regedit you should now check your ‘Program Files’ directory for files and folders that have been left behind which relate to the programs you have just deleted.You will need to delete these manually – go to the ‘Program Files’ directory in your C\: Drive. Only delete files and folders relating to those programs that you have just removed via Windows ‘Add or Remove Programs’. 

Speed Up My PC – Disk Cleanup

Now your next task is to delete any temporary files and other unwanted clutter on your hard drive.You can do this easily by using Windows ‘Disk Cleanup’ utility which can be easily accessed by right clicking on your hard drive icon in ‘My Computer’ and selecting ‘Properties’ and looking under the ‘General’ tab.
Or, you can go to ‘Start’ > ‘All Programs’ > ‘Accessories’ > ‘System Tools’. Here you will find the ‘Disk Cleanup’ program. Specify the drive that you want to ‘Cleanup’ – usually your C:\Drive.

Run ‘Disk Cleanup’ and it will – after a short delay whilst it analyses your hard drive – list options detailing how much space can be reclaimed by activating them.You should also delete any temporary files to save more disk space that way.
There is an option in the ‘Disk Cleanup’ listing to ‘Compress old files’ – this allows you to archive old files that you don’t use regularly and give you some disk space by compressing them.

You can set an age limit for files that will be compressed – i.e. haven’t been used for more than a certain period of time so list for compression. 

Speed Up My PC – System Restore

Another often overlooked area for ‘Disk Cleanup’ is ‘System Restore’.Under the ‘More Options’ tab within ‘Disk Cleanup’ you will find further options for cleaning up your hard disk drive.

There are options to remove some of the Windows operating system components that you may not require – you can find this under ‘Windows Components’ but be careful that you do not remove a component that may be required to run your configuration correctly.‘System Restore’ clean up will remove all but the most recent restore point from your hard drive.
If you do this then after it finishes make sure that you go to ‘System Restore’ and configure its settings for future restore points.
Check that only the drive containing your operating system is highlighted and adjust the amount of disk space set aside for restore points to your requirements.

Speed Up My PC – Disk Defragmenter

Now, we have cleared our hard drive of an enormous amount of clutter there should be a lot more hard disk space available but your files and data may now be spread randomly across your hard drive.This is called a fragmented disk drive and will slow down your PC due to the delays caused in searching back and forth across your hard drive for the required fragmented chunks of data.
You need to place all the related chunks of data for a particular file close to one another on your drive and to do this Windows has its own ‘Disk Defragmenter’ program which can be found by going to ‘Start’>’All Programs’>’Accessories’>’System Tools’ and then you will see ‘Disk Defragmenter’.

Check the drives you wish to defragment and then click on the ‘Analyze’ button. Windows will now check the drive and report back as to whether or not your hard drive requires defragmenting.

If ‘Disk Defragmenter’ indicates that defragmentation is required click on the ‘Defragment’ button and away it goes. Bare in mind though – this isn’t a quick job and could take several hours!

Speed Up My PC - Check Disk

Once complete it is advisable to also check the integrity of your hard drive. Hard drives can develop bad sectors which will slow down your PC and Windows ‘ Check Disk’ which can be found in ‘Start’ > ’My Computer’ and then right-click on the hard disk you want to check and then click ‘Properties’ and click on the ‘Tools’ tab. Click ‘Check Now’. You will see a check disk dialog box and you should select ‘Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors’ check box and then click ‘Start’.

If Windows finds any bad sectors you will have the option to fix them. 

Speed Up My PC – Clean up your desktop

Are you one of those people who like to drop shortcuts, files, PDF’s etc on your desktop for easy finding or so that you don’t forget them?Yes it’s handy to add a few helpful shortcuts on your desktop to say a number of frequently used programs etc, but not covered in them!
This too slows down your computer start up time.
Clean up your desktop now – to make it easy change to a folder view where you can list the desktop files, shortcuts and folders etc clearly for easy sorting.
Open up ‘My Computer’ on ‘Windows Explorer’ and go to C:\Documents and Settings\Username\Desktop
You can run the desktop Cleaning Wizard by right clicking on the desktop, selecting 'Arrange Icons By' and then selecting 'Run Desktop Cleanup Wizard' and clicking on 'Next' in the Window that appears. Check the boxes alongside the items you wish to remove.

Speed Up My PC – Startup Programs

Another cause for long drawn out boot up times is to do with the number of programs that are set to run automatically at start up.A lot of these programs do not need to run at start up and can cause you to suffer long boot times with no real benefit to you.
Use Windows ‘msconfig’ to configure which programs you want to run at start up and prevent those that you do not, thereby shortening the boot time - especially if you have a great long list of items!
Click ‘Start’>’Run’ and in the command line type ‘msconfig’ and hit ‘Return’.
Select the ‘Startup’ tab and examine the list presented to you. Uncheck the tick box for the items that you do not want to run at Start up. Make sure you leave any security type programs – i.e AVG, Norton, McAfee etc.




If you are not sure about some of them do a ‘Google’ search to find out if they can be safely disabled from your ‘Startup’ list.Your Start up list may well contain Malware and Spyware entries and disabling these will help greatly in speeding up your boot up time.
For more information on dubious ‘mfconfig’ entries visitwww.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php where you will find information detailing with known threats that you can disable within msconfig. 

Speed Up My PC – Spyware

Here is another culprit for slowing down your pc – Spyware!Seriously, this stuff is bad news and has become a real problem for us all now.
What can you do about it? Well, we are never going to completely rid ourselves of it but we can keep in under check and continuously monitor and remove it using a few free simple tools.
You’ll soon know if you are suffering from a bad case of spyware – having problem with slow online surfing? Getting lots of pop ups and toolbars added to your browser?
Perhaps you have had the offer of downloading a program that offers to fix or check for viruses and to scan your PC and you’ve clicked yes before thinking about the consequences of what you are doing?
OK, what can we do? Install some good quality tried and trusted anti-spyware programs. To cover all bases you will need a couple of programs which will scan and monitor your PC for Spyware, Keyloggers etc.
Ad-Aware from www.lavasoft.de is a great little program that you can safely download and install on your PC to scan your drives for any infection. Ad-Aware will do a full scan of your system and report back with all it finds, mostly tracking cookies and remove these for you.
You can download the free version which is fine for most people but the ‘Plus’ or ‘Pro’ version will offer you real time protection if you wish to automate the process.
Spybot Search and Destroy from www.safer-networking.com gives real time protection and you should also install this program to give you full coverage against Spyware. Spybot will also check your system files and registry for infection to give thorough coverage. 

Speed Up My PC – Rootkit Virus

The Rootkit virus infects the Windows operating system and is difficult to detect with many Anti-Virus software programs.If you think you may be infected or want to check for a possible infection you can download a free detection program from AVG at http://free.grisoft.com AVG Anti-Rootkit will scan and detect any viruses hidden on your hard drive giving you full peace of mind. 

Speed Up My PC – Automated cleaning

Ccleaner - available at www.ccleaner.com is a free tool which will scan and clear out all of your temp files, browser history, registry etc and is simple to operate at the click of a few buttons - simple, effective and very popular amongst those who would like to add a little automation to the process of clearing out their PC Bloatware. 

Speed Up My PC – Reinstall Windows

Finally, if your PC is still slow after you’ve been though all of the above suggestions then you should consider doing a complete reinstall of your operating system.When anyone asks us the best way to 'help speed up my PC' this is our recommended 'best way' to ensure that your PC is running as fast as it can be.
You will need to back up all your data and settings first and it is a fairly long process, but at the end of it all you will have a PC that runs sweetly once again.
To find out how to re-install your version of Windows visit one of the following pages for detailed 'step by step' instructions complete with screenshots.


We hope you have found the 'Tips and Tricks' in our 'Speed Up My PC' guide useful and your PC is one again super fast and responsive!

Hey, hang on there, there is another way!
Sure, performing a clean reinstall of Windows will sort you out no problem but it's a time consuming and tedious process, what with all of the data backup, hunting for license keys, reinstalling all of your other software programs, email etc.
Another option, and a pretty damn good one at that is to let Reimage do a free scan of your PC which will give you a report detailing all that it has found and giving you the option to go ahead and fix your PC without touching any of your data and installed programs etc and without needing your Windows license key and install disc!

The choice is yours, long and tedious or all sorted in around one hour or less without having to call out a PC Tech to sort it for you.
Let us know how you get on if you decide to give it a go :)
For more info be sure to check out our Reimage review or screenshots ofReimage repairing one of our own PCs. 

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Two Computers One Monitor

Two Computers One Monitor – With a KVM 2 Port Switch, Yes You Can!

Two Computers One Monitor – Introduction

Two computers one monitor and a lack of desk space!

A not uncommon problem today is that of an office or home setup where you have two computers that you wish to switch between regularly but only have room on your desk for one monitor, keyboard and mouse, especially if you have a widescreen LCD monitor filling your desktop!

Maybe you have a PC setup dedicated to gaming and another PC for all of your other applications or setup as a server etc.
Some gamers and computer buffs like to have multiple setups with one PC a ‘latest spec’ machine and the other as a backup or new build PC.
With this kind of setup it would be very annoying to say the least to have to keep unplugging your monitor, keyboard and mouse from one PC only to have to reconnect it to the other – back and forth all the time!
Well not to worry – there is a way around this!
KVM monitor switches are available which allow the connection of two or more PCs to one monitor, keyboard and mouse.
KVM stands for, yep, you guessed it, keyboard, video and mouse!
It’s a neat little device that you can connect up between two or more PCs with a single set of user interfaces and switch between your PCs using a simple keyboard shortcut command – brilliant eh!
The keyboard command is usually something simple like a multiple tap of your shift key for instance.
Manual KVM switches are also available which require you to simply press a button to switch between PCs. 

Two Computers One Monitor – Remote Control

It’s even possible to set up dual PC sharing without having to site the PCs locally to each other by using a local / remote KVM switch.How does this work?
Well, your local KVM switch simply plugs into your keyboard, mouse and monitor and a CAT 5 type network cable connection is made between the local and remote KVM switch boxes.
The remote Ethernet KVM switch then connects to your remote PCs keyboard, video and mouse inputs, and you’re all set to go. 

Two Computers One Monitor – Who Makes Them?

These handy little devices are easily obtainable from a number of manufacturers, such as Belkin, D-Link, TRENDnet and Iogear KVM switches and can be purchased quite cheaply from online stores such as tigerdirect.com.Obviously it’s best to spend a reasonable amount to ensure a good quality product, you are dealing with some quite sensitive signals here especially for your monitor connection and the cheaper models may be more susceptible to crosstalk and interference of the signals. 

Two Computers One Monitor – Is there another way?

Sharing a monitor between two PCs can also be achieved very simply if your monitor has dual inputs.You will simply need to select the input using the monitor input selector.
Obviously your individual PCs will still require their own keyboard and mouse but this is still another possibly cheaper option to consider.
Ok, well we’ve talked about the KVM switch solution and sharing a monitor using dual inputs but are there any other options open to you?
Well, in fact yes there is! 

Two Computers One Monitor – Software Approach

Another option which is brilliant for those that require remote operation of a PC is the software based control via your home network or even over an Internet connection.Who provides the software?
There are a number of software solutions around, some you have to pay for and some, such as ‘Windows Remote Desktop’ are available free.
Another free option is ‘LogMeIn’ who provide a free option for users with basic requirements.
You will need a high speed home network LAN and decent broadband Internet connection in order to use this to the best of its abilities.
Note that this isn’t strictly a software KVM type solution as your remote PC will still require its own keyboard video and mouse but you will be able to use one monitor, keyboard and mouse locally to view two or ore computers remotely. 

Two Computers One Monitor – KVM Switch Cables

KVM switches are available with two or more sets of connections for the sharing of multiple PCs with a single monitor, keyboard and mouseSome KVM switches have VGA inputs and outputs and PS2 connections for mouse and keyboard whilst the newer models have USB ports for today’s USB keyboard and mouse connections.
Your KVM switch will usually come complete with a set of cables. You will need to check that the KVM switch that you select has the correct connector types for both of your PCs that you intend to share with your monitor keyboard and mouse.
Many KVM switches available today have the facility to connect a set of speakers and a microphone which can also be switched between your PCs.
A KVM switch will, due to the technical limitations regarding signal quality etc, need to be sited in reasonable proximity to your PCs – say within 2 to 3 metres.
By the way, with a basic KVM switch there should be no reason why you should not be able to mix and match between a PC and Mac as long as the keyboard and mouse are compatible with both setups. 

Two Computers One Monitor – Best KVM Switch

Where would we suggest that you look for the best KVM switch?Well, Belkin, Iogear and TRENDnet offer some very good KVM switches and a very compact dual port KVM switch can be obtained very cheaply from all of these manufacturers.
All are exceptionally easy to configure and install and do not require any device drivers or other software installation on any of the PCs that you intend connecting it to.
A very simple device available cheaply is the Belkin 2 Port KVM switch called the Belkin Flip which is offered in PS/2 or USB connector variants.
This is a really cute little device which sits between the two computers, a single monitor and your keyboard and mouse.
It comes with a ‘remote’ button that you use to swap ‘on the fly’ between your two PCs.
The Flip remote button has two colors along its edge which shine green or yellow with the color indicating which of your PCs is currently under control of your keyboard and mouse.
The Flip’s remote button can be attached to the top or underside of your desk using the included adhesive patch if you so desire.
No software installation is required with this model – it really doesn’t get any simpler!
Actually, there is also a variant of this model that has wireless remote included! 



Belkin F1DG102W 2-Port USB KVM Switch with Wireless Remote
Belkin’s Wireless Remote version of the ‘Flip’ allows you wire free switching between two PCs or a PC and a laptop with the KVM to PC and KVM to keyboard etc. cables neatly hidden away from view.
This beauty also features audio support, allowing you to share a set of speakers between PCs!
The Flip lets you to listen to music files on one PC whilst working on your other PC by using the handy ‘audio lock’ feature.

Features

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs
• Share a set of speakers between two PCs
• Wireless RF remote has a range of 10 feet
• ‘Active’ PC indication using bi-color LED indicator
• Includes 2 built-in cables for connecting computers
• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536
• MAC and PC compatible

A good example of a competing Iogear KVM switch model is the
Iogear GCS42UW6 Compact KVM Switch
The IOGEAR two-port USB KVM switch supports both the MAC and Windows operating systems and allows a single monitor keyboard and USB mouse to be shared between two computers.
Switching between the two computers is by use of a manual switch which is attached to the top of the KVM switch housing.
Again, this device features plug and play operation does not require any software to be installed.
Features

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs
• No external power required
• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536
• Integral 6 foot USB and VGA cables
• Compact design features two attached KVM (USB and VGA) cables
• Microsoft Windows 2000 upwards and Appple Mac OS 9.0 upwards
• Manual Push button computer selection
• LED indication of active PC

A further excellent example of a competing Trendnet KVM switch model is
TRENDnet’s TK-207K 2-Port USB KVM Switch
This 2-Port USB KVM Switch allows connection of two PC’s with an integrated set of keyboard, monitor, and mouse cables.
Switching between computers is by push button selection or ‘hot keys’ with LED indication.
Again no external power is required as the Trendnet KVM switch obtains its power from the cables attached to your PCs
This device features plug and play with no software installation required.
Features 

• Share a single monitor, USB keyboard and USB mouse between two PCs
• Two sets of detachable KVM Cables included
• Supports screen resolutions up to 2048x1536
• Supports Microsoft Windows and Apple MAC
• Hot-key computer selection or push button selection
• Microsoft Windows users can specify hot keys
• Power adapter not required – USB power driven

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