KVM switch ceases to function

Have had KVM switches for a number of years now & recently I am getting no video out to my monitor. Am using an IOGEAR GCS72U, the first of which quit after almost 3 years (12/2019 thru 11/2022) while the second one only lasted less than a year (12/2022 thru 8/2023). Being a sucker for punishment I purchased a third in 8/2023 and returned it in 9/2023 as it too did not function. If I omit the KVM switch and cable directly from the computer to the monitor it works just fine. Both of my systems (a Windows 7 and a Windows 10) have the same issue and work fine minus the KVM. Since there are no drivers nor software involved the issue must be elsewhere. BUT WHERE!!! Has Microsoft made some sort of change during an update?? To continue without the KVM is going to require me to get down behind the desk and physically swap the cable from one to the other. At 87 years of age I am not looking forward to doing this whenever I want to swap back and forth between the two. Hopefully, someone out there in Forum land has some suggestions on what I might try? THANX!!!!

Is the KVM using a combination of HDMI and a Display port? If so, it probably means the issue is in the monitor because you may need to cycle the input or some other option. Just a guess.

For me with using a live disk of Hiren's Boot CD which uses Windows 10, I have had nothing but issues cycling monitors. Not sure if that's a Display port thing or Windows 10 or my monitor.

In lieu of a hardware KVM solution, I use a program for my KVM needs called Input Director. Input Director - Software KVM to Control Multiple Computers

file3456 said:

In lieu of a hardware KVM solution, I use a program for my KVM needs called Input Director. Input Director - Software KVM to Control Multiple Computers

There's also Barrier, which is open-source and compatible with not only Windows 7 and up, but also Mac OS X/macOS (current GUI requires 10.12 or newer), Linux, and the BSDs.

(It's one of the ways I KVM together my Windows 7 and Linux machines and my biggest issue with it is that I can't also use it with the thin clients I installed Windows XP and Windows 98SE on.)

Just bear in mind that there's a known bug with version 2.4 that breaks TLS key generation if you want it encrypted, and the simplest solution is to install a v2.3 version, get it working (i.e. let it generate the keys), and then upgrade.