Random Tech Questions you want answered.

What's the consensus for antivirus monitoring? MSE+Malwarebytes for free? Or actually spend money on something else for increased security?

I run 2 AVs and a rootkit/malware detector, plus I've changed my router password and done some other stuff.

PuzzleBound wrote:

What's the consensus for antivirus monitoring? MSE+Malwarebytes for free? Or actually spend money on something else for increased security?

I was waiting to see what folks would say in the other thread, because I'm curious too, ha:

https://www.gamerswithjobs.com/node/...

I suppose it depends on our individual threat models. I just use MSE, personally. But I also don't download random stuff like I used to in my college days. Every now and then I'll download something like Malwarebytes and run a scan, but definitely not with any regularity. I can't even remember the last time I torrented something that wasn't a Linux ISO.

Knock on wood, so far, so good!

ccoates wrote:

I just use MSE, personally. But I also don't download random stuff like I used to in my college days. Every now and then I'll download something like Malwarebytes and run a scan, but definitely not with any regularity. I can't even remember the last time I torrented something that wasn't a Linux ISO.

This is the way.

Yeah, Microsoft has been inching towards leadership in Gartner and other quadrants the last years, for all things security.

Their main focus is anything cloud based off course, but for a regular consumer who doesn't act like a 90's teenager who just discovered Napster, MSE is perfectly fine.

Another vote for for Windows Defender since that is what it is called now or are the rest of you still running Windows 7?

It's actually called "Microsoft Defender" now, get with the times.

But also the control panel just says "Windows Security". I don't know.

Microsoft is also market leader when it comes to renaming their products just because.

Its Softmicro now BTW ;P

Seriously, though, I’ve had one instance where someone pulled a password I used on my router and other places, and hacked into my network and started beating on the systems. Luckily they all had good passwords and I picked it up via router messages. Changed the username and the password on that and they stopped knocking.

A good network monitor is nice for when you suspect something odd is going on, too. Glasswire or similar.

I'm starting the plans for my dream desk setup. 3 monitors on wall mounted arms, potential standing desk, ability to easily switch between work and play computers, etc. One item I'd like to buy now while work is still willing to give me $200 for my home office is a triple monitor port switch.

Right now, when I want to switch my two monitors between my gaming pc and work Macbook, it's a whole lot of unplugging and plugging. I'd like to buy a monitor switch and future proof it to work with three monitors.

I found this on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/CKL-Keyboard-...

I have a few concerns though:

  • It lists 4K@30hz. Does this mean my gaming monitor (144hz) is going to be limited or is this a different stat and not related?
  • Any compatibility concerns with a Macbook pro? Haven't tried three monitors on it yet as well.
  • Any other considerations I need to think about?

Yes and no, the monitor will still be able to handle 144hz (i.e. it won't hurt the monitor) but the switcher port will only feed it 30hz. So the end result is your monitor will be refreshing at 144hz a signal that is only updating at 30hz.

I looked into KVM switches a couple years ago for a work/play desk. It seemed like none of them were suitable for gaming - all of them either had unacceptable framerates (like the one you found), or introduced noticeable latency. I eventually gave up and maintained two separate sets of keyboard, mouse and monitors on my desk.

I used to have a hardware KVM, but ditched it several years ago. There are software KM solutions such as ShareMouse and Synergy which work great (I use Synergy but have heard good things about others). Then there's also software which allows me to change monitor inputs through hotkeys or scripts (I use ClickMonitorDDC).

Tip: Connect the keyboard and mouse to the gaming rig for low latency.

I work in IT/AV and it is hard to find stuff that supports above 4k60 and a lot of stuff will only do 1080p60 or 4k30.

Some monitors support sending commands to them via CEC or DDC or other communication methods so I would look and see if yours do if they have multiple inputs. If they do you should be able to hook up the work PC to one input and the gaming PC to a different one and then use ControlMyMonitor from Nirsoft to create a script for changing the inputs between the two PCs.

You can probably automate it even more using a 2 device USB switch by making it so that when one of the PCs detects the keyboard/mouse it launches the script to automatically switch the display input.

Google “udp2-12ap”. Dual port 144Hz Displayport kvm switch.

LouZiffer wrote:

I used to have a hardware KVM, but ditched it several years ago. There are software KM solutions such as ShareMouse and Synergy which work great (I use Synergy but have heard good things about others). Then there's also software which allows me to change monitor inputs through hotkeys or scripts (I use ClickMonitorDDC).

Tip: Connect the keyboard and mouse to the gaming rig for low latency.

Yeah I think something like Synergy might be your best bet. Just make sure you plug in the keyboard and mouse to the gaming computer. No need for a physical KVM.

For my WFH setup I got a USB switcher for the keyboard and mouse. Then I got HDMI switches for each monitor.

I have to press 3 buttons to toggle but overall it works much better. And if one part fails, cheaper replacement.

Also the whole bundle was cheaper than one nice KVM thing that still wouldn't support both monitors plus the laptop. I use all 3 screens for work.

I think the HDMI switches I got were 1080p x60 and 4k x30? Can't remember. Probably not getting the best refresh on my monitors but they are 1080 so I wasn't stressing too much.

But maybe I'll upgrade the switch for my primary monitor now that I'm thinking about it...

I have four monitors on my desk; two for work and two for home. Then I have two keyboards. I have one mouse because my mouse is a Logitech that has multi-computer support built in, just click a button on the mouse and it switches to the other computer instantly. I believe they make keyboards that do it too, but for my purposes having a second keyboard works better because of the way I have the monitors positioned.

Thanks for all the quick feedback. Y'all are confirming many of the things I thought might be the case.

One (very simple) option I did not consider is one of my monitors has two hdmi inputs and the other has hdmi and DVI. I could hook up and bundle the two sets of plugs for gaming pc and work pc separate and just switch the sources. Use converters for work laptop and some wire management to keep desk clean.

Then I'd want to explore the keyboard and mouse switching y'all mentioned above. Seems like a more elegant and simple solution than a $400-$500 KVM switch that still won't solve all my problems.

I used to use RDP to connect to my work machine from my personal one and use all my devices that way. Made sure to tell it to use all my monitors. RDP on a local network performs pretty well for development work but wouldn’t for multimedia. There are paid alternatives (like Parsec) for that but I’ve never tried them and it’s likely cheaper long term to just buy a second set of peripherals.

Nowadays I just have a whole second desk for work stuff with a whole different set of peripherals/monitors and I keep a very strict line between home and work. They don’t even share a network these days.

pandasuit wrote:

Nowadays I just have a whole second desk for work stuff with a whole different set of peripherals/monitors and I keep a very strict line between home and work. They don’t even share a network these days.

Yeah, I found the temptation to slide my chair two feet to the left and start a game too much to resist. Now in a new house with more space, got a work office in the box room, and the gaming rig in the the room nextdoor. Helps a lot with maintaining focus at work.

Looked into this briefly, but I wound up just getting a USB switcher for the mouse and keyboard, and then using the input selection on the monitors to swap the video. That's definitely annoying, but cheap! Plus, I mounted the USB switcher and hub to the underside of my desk, so when I hit the button to swap, I feel like a super villain opening a trap door.

I might look into what a displayport switcher costs though. One monitor only has a single displayport in, and my laptop won't output 144Hz over HDMI. Not like this matters even a little bit, but it bugs me for some reason.

Yeah I went with cheap monitors that only had HDMI and old VGA ports. So I use the switcher to stay all HDMI. A monitor with 2 HDMI or HDMI/DP would be perfect.

Parsec has a free version. They just got bought out by somebody IIRC.
I love the app for using viewing and playing games from my desktop on my laptop.

The great thing about parsec is there is no noticeable input lag.

Parsec looks interesting. I used to use Chrome Remote Desktop but think it was more laggy. Been a while though, and haven't tried it on my new rig.

Won't be relevant for every set-up, but Moonlight also allows you to stream your entire desktop (not just games). You do need an Nvidia gpu in the host machine, though.

I found Chrome Remote Desktop really useful and easy for briefly accessing my work computer from home, but I wouldn't want to use it for any extended period of time.

fangblackbone wrote:

Parsec has a free version. They just got bought out by somebody IIRC.
I love the app for using viewing and playing games from my desktop on my laptop.

The great thing about parsec is there is no noticeable input lag.

Parsec Free is pretty great apparently but is missing some features that some people would require for work (not gaming). Relevant (sponsored) video by DF talks about some of the differences:

Linus Tech Tips did a video about Parsec in the recent past as well IIRC.

I found out about Parsec from LTT.
I played Diablo 3, Borderlands 3, Outriders, and... something else on the tip of my tongue. No problems whatsoever.

fangblackbone wrote:

I found out about Parsec from LTT.
I played Diablo 3, Borderlands 3, Outriders, and... something else on the tip of my tongue.

That IS some impressive streaming technology.