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Using two computers together

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Name: justinb
Date: May 10, 2007 at 21:36:06 Pacific
OS: Windows XP
CPU/Ram: amd athlon 64 4200/ 1024m
Product: custom
Comment:

I recently bought a new computer and i still have my old one which i don't use anymore now, so I was thinking maybe i could connect them together somehow so that my new computer can use the old computer's memory, ram, cpu etc. (they are the same operating systems btw) so pretty much i just want to know:
a)would it even work?
b)would it be worth it? (in terms of $ for cables or whatever and effort)
c)could i use the video output of the second one to use a dual monitor display?

Justin



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Response Number 1
Name: wanderer
Date: May 10, 2007 at 22:09:57 Pacific
Reply:

a. doesn't work like that
b. if you want to network them to share files then yes a crossover cable is like $10 and I would assume these computers have nics.
c. doesn't work like that. each system is self contained. its like you are asking since we can talk can we share brains.

Are you ready for where Microsoft wants you to go today?


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Response Number 2
Name: justinb
Date: May 10, 2007 at 22:37:18 Pacific
Reply:

i asked my friend this question and he told me this: Actualy, If you converted one pc into a server on a partition of the harddrive and conntected them on the network usting the server pc to host the OS you could would get both there power.

any comments?

Justin


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Response Number 3
Name: Razor2.3
Date: May 10, 2007 at 22:52:58 Pacific
Reply:

any comments?
Well, question. That'll have to do. Is he telling you to install the OS on a networked drive? That would either (a) do little to nothing, or (b) lock one PC as a file server. In either case, they wouldn't be sharing resources.

Anyways, on to your orignal question. Yes, it is possible. No, probably not how you're thinking.

http://www.linux.com/article.pl?sid...


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Response Number 4
Name: justinb
Date: May 10, 2007 at 23:27:37 Pacific
Reply:

ok thats helpful, but i have never used linux and im wondering if this is possible with windows xp or perhaps even vista?

and i think he meant to use one computer as a server but i cant ask him now he logged off msn


Justin


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Response Number 5
Name: Santa
Date: May 11, 2007 at 00:29:13 Pacific

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Response Number 6
Name: Razor2.3
Date: May 11, 2007 at 00:58:55 Pacific
Reply:

Note: Work came up in the middle of this reply, so I'm not sure if someone answered or not.

Only modern MS OS? Apparently it can be done, but it's far from cheap.

From the article:
Windows XP Professional
Windows 2000 Advanced Server
Interix 2.2
Third party software and white papers
Visual Studio .NET Professional

That's either a lot of downloading (Yar!), or a lot of money.

Edit: If you're afraid of Linux, FreeDOS may be the way to go, but something tells me C:\> would be just as foreign to you as />


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Response Number 7
Name: wanderer
Date: May 11, 2007 at 08:26:54 Pacific
Reply:

"If you converted one pc into a server on a partition of the harddrive and conntected them on the network usting the server pc to host the OS you could would get both there power."

Your friend was correct right up to this: "could would get both there power."
That is a false statement.

What you friend is referring to is terminal services or usage of RDP. Once you start a terminal session you have two worlds. One is your terminal session and one is your local desktop.

Neither accomplishes your c: question.

You can have two or multiple systems connected together for shared processing. This is done in the Alpha and mainframe world. It requires a Front End Processor which is a traffic processing cop in front of all the backend processor units. Even in this setup each backend processor unit has its own memory, cpus, and system bus.

That is not what you are asking about.

Also don't confuse the linux article for being the same as you are asking. It is just like I explained above [distributed processing is what it is called] but again that is not what you are asking for.

If you want to understand distributed processing a bit more sign up for the Seti project.
http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/

This is where you make your computer available online for them to use to crunch numbers. There are users all over the world contributing to this project. That is distributed processing.

There is no shared memory, video like you asked about in your post.

Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search


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Response Number 8
Name: picohat
Date: May 12, 2007 at 09:40:46 Pacific
Reply:

It is useful to make the old computer as file server or other types of server.

Here are some tutorials you can use to set up a simple network. The cost is not expensive.

Ethernet Home Network Setup Tutorial

Wireless Network Setup Tutorial

Enabling Remote Desktop in Windows XP

Have fun...


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