Ever wanted to copy a document to a computer and paste another document to another computer? Well, you can do just that; it’s possible with Entrance Director. Input Director can be used to control multiple Windows computers using the same mouse, the same keyboard connected to a computer. You can switch between computers by simply using keyboard shortcuts or by moving the cursor over the edge of one screen so that it appears on another. Another nice feature of Input Director is the ability to encrypt.
How to use Input Director on Windows 10
After installing and configuring Input Director on your master computer and your slave computer (s), it’s time to give it a try.
- Using INPUT DIRECTOR
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- Switch from a master computer to a slave computer using a mouse
- Switch from a master computer to a slave computer using keyboard shortcuts
- Cursor back to master computer
- Boot options
- Manage when slaves are available
- Using the shared clipboard
- Locking a system using Win-L
- Ctrl-Alt-Delete for a slave
- Contextual contextual menu
- Opening files on another computer
- Settings
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- Global settings
- Main parameters
- Slave parameters
- Auto-switching roles – using any keyboard / mouse to control any system
- Information window
- Configuring data encryption security
- Keyboard macros
- Keyboard shortcuts.
Entrance Director Review
Input Director lets you control multiple Windows systems with the keyboard / mouse connected to one of the computers.
1]Switch from a master computer to a slave computer using a mouse
Depending on which side you set up your master computer on (left or right), you would move the mouse right or left. The mouse should disappear and appear on the slave computer. For example: if the master computer is to the right of the slave computer, to access the slave computer, you would move the cursor to the right of the master screen and it should disappear and appear on the slave computer. At this point, everything you type will appear on the slave computer.
For transitions using the mouse, different transition options can be defined:
- Require cursor to double tap on side of screen to go to next screen
- The cursor must be pressed against the side of the screen for a moment to cause a transition
- A key (s) must be held down to allow the cursor to transition to occur
2]Switch from a master computer to a slave computer using keyboard shortcuts
If you have configured your shortcut keys, you can press your shortcut key combination, you will find that the cursor appears in the middle of the slave computer screen. You will also find that all mouse and keyboard inputs are now on the slave computer.
3]Cursor back to master computer
The default keyboard shortcut is left ctrl + left alt + control-pause (control-break is the key marked pause / pause to the right of the scroll key on a standard keyboard). You can change this shortcut key from the Principal Input Director panel.
4]Boot options
When INPUT DIRECTOR is installed for the first time, it starts with Windows, but it does not start as a master or slave. It must be configured to start as a master or slave. This setting must be chosen in the global preferences tab. To be able to control a slave before connecting to it, you must have configured Input Director to run at startup and be enabled as a slave.
5]Manage when slaves are available
Slave computers can be ignored during the transition between computers, this is done by checking the jump option in the settings. Slave computers must be set to ignore by default at startup. When the slave computers are ready, they will communicate with the master computer to say that they are ready. The slaves will transmit to the master that they are stopping or restarting and the master will ignore them until they become available.
6]Using the shared clipboard
Using the shared clipboard on multiple systems is as simple as normal using the Windows clipboard. Copy content to one system, switch to another system, and paste. Input Director supports most of the clipboard data formats.
To be able to copy / paste files, the files to copy must be accessible via shared network directories. Input Director supports Windows O / S security and as such, the user logged on to the target system must be authorized to read files using network sharing.
seven]Locking a system using Win-L
Using Win-L to lock your system will always lock the master system, no matter which system you control at the time. It is a Windows security feature. To simulate Win-L on a slave system, use Ctrl-Win-L instead (this shortcut will also work on the master). You can change this shortcut on the main preferences screen.
8]Ctrl-Alt-Delete for a slave
Pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del will always be activated on the master, regardless of the system you control. It is a Windows security feature. To simulate Ctrl-Alt-Delete on a slave system, use Ctrl-Alt-Insert (sometimes Insert is marked as “Ins” on a keyboard). This shortcut will also work on the master system. You can change this shortcut on the main preferences screen.
9]Contextual contextual menu
If you right-click on the “ID” icon in the notification status bar, a context menu allows you to deactivate / activate Input Director, stop it, etc.
On the master system, the option “Stop slaves and master” provides a shortcut to deactivate all systems. (A slave must have its option “Stop this slave if it is directed by the master”). The Lock Slaves and Master works the same way.
If Input Director is hidden, you can double-click on the “ID” icon with the left mouse button to display the Input Director window.
Opening files on another computer
If you find that UPI contains files on another of your computer that you often open, Input Director makes it easy to open a file or directory on any other master / slave computer. Using Windows Explorer, if you right-click a file or directory accessible through a network share, an Input Director menu item will be included in the context menu.
Entrance manager settings
1]Global preferences
When Input Director has just been installed, it starts with Windows, by default it starts in deactivated mode instead of master / slave mode. To change this, open the Input Director window and go to the Global Preferences tab.
2]Slave preferences
The preferences of the slave are located at the bottom of the tab “Configuration of the slave”
These 5 parameters are only active when Input Director is in slave mode:
- A master can ask all slaves to stop (this is initiated on the master via the “Stop slave workstations” button on the main panel or via the context menu of the “ID” icon). Each slave can be configured to respond to this request. Up to 4 alternatives are available: Do nothing, Standby, Hibernate and Shutdown. Only the choices valid on a particular system are displayed.
- Synchronize the locking of this slave system with the master – If the master system has input focus and the Windows-L command is hit, the master system will be locked. Any slave who has this box checked will be locked at the same time.
- Keep this system awake when Input Director is active: activating this option ensures that the slave system does not go into standby mode when you control other systems using Input Director. If the Windows screen saver is active on the slave and master systems, this option activates the slave screen saver when the master is activated.
- Hide the cursor when you move away from this slave – When this box is checked, the cursor will be hidden during the transition away from the slave. It can be reappeared by returning to it or by moving the locally attached mouse. In addition, it will reappear after 30 minutes of inactivity on the slave.
- Keep the cursor visible when no mouse is connected – Disconnecting the mouse from a Windows 10 system will cause the cursor to remain invisible. Enabling this option ensures that the cursor is visible whether or not the mouse is connected to the computer.
3]Main preferences
On your master system, start Input Director and go to the “Master Preferences” tab.
Master Preference is divided into three categories:
- Mouse / keyboard preference
- Transition options
- Advanced
1]Mouse / keyboard preference:
This is where you choose the mouse and keyboard settings for the master and slave systems.
- Define the WIN-L equivalent
- Set the equivalent Ctrl-Alt-Delete
- Use the system keyboard
2]Transition options
This is where the transition preferences are chosen.
- You can choose to press a key combination before you can transition
- Define keyboard shortcuts for transitions
- Disable screen edge transitions, etc.
3]Advanced
This is where you will find all the advanced preferences such as:
- Allow slaves to wake up on the network
- Check availability of slaves offline
- Define Logitech keyboard macros
- Update the slave availability statue
Automatic switching
Input Director allows automatic switching of roles. Any computer can be switched to master or slave,
- A system can be configured to control whether the keyboard or mouse attached to it is used
- A system can be set to slave if an authorized master communicates with it
To activate automatic switching, open Input Director, switch to the Global Preferences tab and activate automatic switching. Do this on all your systems.
Information window
Master and slave systems can display an information window, which indicates the status of the input manager and the system that currently has input focus. To control the information window, go to the “Global Preferences” tab. There is a “View” push button that can be selected and deselected, and a “Reset” button to reset the information window to its default values.
Press the “View” button and the information window will appear in the lower right corner of the screen:
If the window does not appear, make sure that the entry director is activated as a slave or master. By default, if Input Director is disabled, the window will remain hidden.
When the entry moves from one system to another, all entry directors displaying the information window will be updated.
Configuring data encryption
Input Director can be configured so that data can be encrypted between the master and the slaves. Input Director uses Advanced Encryption Standard encryption to encrypt data.
Enabling encryption can make the mouse or keyboard less responsive to older hardware. Indeed, all the input information transmitted must be encrypted by the master, then decrypted by the slave before being used. It can also have an impact on the remote clipboard as this data will also be encrypted and decrypted on the fly.
The encryption is configured on each slave. You can choose to encrypt only the data of one slave but not another. You can also set a different password for each slave. Encryption must be enabled on each slave.
To configure encryption:
Open Input Director on your slave computer and choose the slave configuration.
Click Edit to display the defined security dialog, then choose AES Encryption and enter the password of your choice.
The longer the password length, the higher the security, but this will affect the responsiveness of the system on older hardware. Input Director does not enforce the length of the password, the mixture of letters and numbers or any other method that could be used to secure the password. It is therefore up to the user to choose a good password.
Encryption is active on the slave as indicated by the closed padlock and the description.
To update the encryption configuration on the master:
- Open Input Director on the Master and switch to the “Main configuration” tab
- Select the slave which now has data security and press “Modify” to open the “Configuration of the slave” window. Click the “Modify” button to define the corresponding data security parameters for the slave.
- Set the encryption, key length and password to match the corresponding slave. Click ok to save the changes.
Keyboard macros
Input Director allows you to record and read keyboard macros to perform certain functions, either on the master computer or on the network to a slave computer. A keyboard macro is a sequence of keyboard strokes that can be played if necessary. In Input Director, a keyboard macro is essentially keyboard shortcuts.
Binding
Input Director allows you to permanently link a key to another system. This can be useful if, for example, you have speakers connected to a slave. Using keyboard shortcuts, you can link the multimedia volume keys up and down from the master keyboard to this slave.
Linked keys will always work on the system to which they are linked, regardless of the system controlled at that time.
A linked key cannot be used as part of an Input Director keyboard shortcut. If you link a key that is also used as part of a keyboard shortcut, the keyboard shortcut will no longer work.
Download Input Director from official site. It is free for personal non-commercial use only.
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