I’ve seen computers running on Windows XP that have two to four monitors
connected to only one CPU. And each monitor is working independently with its
own keyboard and mouse; like having four separated computers. I’d like to
replicate that in my office. How can it be done?
In this excerpt from
Answercast #25, I look at configurations of XP computers running as multiple
work stations.
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Multiple screens and keyboards
It’s not plain vanilla Windows XP that you’re seeing; it’s probably Windows server 2003.
Windows server edition supports exactly what you just described. Either directly connecting multiple monitors and multiple keyboards to the machine, or more commonly accessing the machine remotely from multiple other PCs simultaneously.
Variation of remote desktop
It’s basically a variation of the Remote Desktop software that you use on your regular PC.
On a regular version of Windows (Windows XP Pro or Windows 7 Pro or better), when you connect with Remote Desktop, you’re actually taking over the console session. You’ll see that the physical console machine will get locked out, while the Remote Desktop session is actually running the machine.
In the case of Windows server edition, you can configure it so that multiple Remote Desktop sessions can take place simultaneously.
That’s what it’s going to take for this to happen.
Next from Answercast #25 – Is there a way to place restore points on a drive other than the system drive?
