Win2VNC

A dual-screen hack for Windows

Written by Fredrik Hubinette
Based on ideas from x2x and code from VNC.

What it does

This program will let you use two screens on two different computers as if they were connected to the same computer. It even works between different operating systems.

If you have two or more computers on your desk and you are tired of having several keyboards and mice around to control them, this is the program for you. While running this program, you can move the mouse pointer beyond the right or left edge of your primary display and the pointer will appear on the other computer screen. If you have ever used x2x or a computer with two graphics cards, you know what I am talking about.

How it works

The program will open a small (one pixel wide) window on the edge of your screen. Moving the pointer into this window will trigger the program to take over your mouse and send mouse movements and keystrokes though the RFB protocol to a VNC server running on another machine. When the pointer is moved back towards the opposite edge on the other screen, the mouse is returned to your primary display.

The operation itself is almost identical to x2x, but most of the code was actually borrowed from the program vncviewer.

Win2VNC works with Windows 95/98/ME/NT/2000/XP. Note that if your secondary machine is running X-windows, you will need to use x0rfbserver rather than the regular Xvnc server to achieve the proper effect.

Win2VNC normally lives in the system tray and has a menu there that allows you to exit the program, send syskey events and save connection options.

Download

Win2VNC version 1.0
You also need a VNC server to run on the machine you wish to control.
You can also download the source.

Command-line options

Normally, you can just start Win2VNC from the start menu. However, Win2VNC also accepts most of the command-line options that vncviewer does. For more documentation, look at the Vncviewer documentation

Known issues

Win2VNC is not able to send Alt-Tab, Ctrl-Alt-Del and other syskey events to the client computer. I hope to fix this in the future by using directinput.