I have greatly enjoyed PCW for many years, in particular as my computer needs have evolved with firstly marriage and then family, so you have informed my decisions to meet these challenges

However my family/home computer was now in trouble. Five years of accumulated programs and files despite annual clean reinstalls, and the now antiquated spec meant the machine was very slow. A five year pile of video tapes I had tried and failed to encode on the 500Mhz CPU was still growing. Worse of all I could not find a satisfactory or secure method to allow my children (younger than the computer!) to play their numerous games that demanded admin rights. This includes educational games from the BBC.

I decided I needed a new machine and invested in a small but not compact ASUS T2 AE1 which would allow me a full-height child proof CD (I'd give a slimline model 5 minutes with the kids). This enabled me to carry out my annual clean install of the old machine with just Windows, Office and games. The old machine now flies, is set to automatically log on as an administrator so all games play. In short I now 'need' it again.

The only cloud on the horizon was linking the systems together for back ups, music and pictures. At this moment they share a desk and I only need one monitor and keyboard. I linked them in a simple network which was great for backups and sharing, but I did not find the remote access from the kids' machine satisfactory for working on the new machine.

The solution to date is a D-Link 2-port KVM switch linking the two computers to the single monitor, keyboard and mouse. A bit low tech, but cheap, and it works. Two separate secure systems at the press of a button. The switch even has a USB port to which I have attached an external drive for backing up and accessing shared albums, so I do not need both machines on. Elegant on the desk (ignore the wires behind), and bringing new life to old equipment I thought was past it, so a two-for-one result.

No more children on the horizon, but we are moving next year at which point I will probably introduce a media player and broadband into the system and put the computer in the children's room and end up having to buy that other monitor. Now where's that recent TFT review..?

Thanks for being there, especially Tim Nott (PCW's Windows and Word hands-on guru).

John Stiles