Camera on PC stopped working.

[Loose rivets]

Can't remember how long ago as I don't use it much but working it isn't. I changed it for my old one. Nothing.

I poked around in Skype but it was saying in red that it couldn't find a camera.

Forums seemed to imply that they were not working because of a W10 update. I thought I'd just wait and see. But some weeks, and nowt.

There seem to be fixes, but I've forgotten so much that I need some hand-holding for reloading drivers and so-on.

[Procrastinus]

Google will be your friend to find the driver you seem to lack after the Wn 10 update

[jimjim1]

I need some hand-holding for reloading drivers and so-on.

Pprune may be too remote for this and I worry that my imperfect advice will simply result in a more broken machine, take care.

Reboot machine - You say "But I shut it down every day"
No no no no no. Win 10 does not do a full restart when you shut the machine down. Do a "Restart". I recommend that "Fast Startup" should be turned off. Then you get to choose whether you want to Hibernate or Shutdown and the fake "Shutdown" option goes away.
https://www.howtogeek.com/349114/shutting-down-doesnt-fully-shut-down-windows-10-but-restarting-it-does/

Check Control Panel/Device Manager for errors (Red Exclamation marks)

May as well check OS file integrity with
Chkdsk /f
sfc /scannow
(Both in administrator cmd window)

Find the camera driver for your machine and re-install them. This is not always easy and is a BIG advantage of say a Dell.

Not really complete but it may be a start.

Edit-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/help/13753/windows-10-camera-does-not-work
Looks quite good.

[Loose rivets]

Thanks. I didn't know refresh was more powerful than starting afresh. Live and learn.

Universal Serial Bus Controllers

USB Composite Device. X 3 when the camera is plugged in. One of which has exclamation mark.

If I pull the camera out live, the Device Manager refreshes and the line with the exclamation mark disappears.

Sound video and game controllers do not mention a camera. I can find no reference to one anywhere. Oddly, there are four NVIDIA high definition audio lines in addition to the HP monitor speakers and Logitech earphones. I have been trying to get meaningful sound out of my monitor without success. (Cochlea Hydrops rules) I'm not sure if I should delete three of them.


Updating driver led to a lot of activity and eventually to Windows saying it was updating. (having said it was up to date a few minuets before) It spent a lot of time with C drive busy. Then it all just quit what it was doing and nothing. Odd. I used to be able to master these things. Creative labs offered a driver but that didn't complete. It asked me for my computer make but did not offer self build. Finish screen grey'd out. Sigh. It knew I had a Foxcon XXXX.


Well, that was first try. :-(

[Mac the Knife]

Clean the camera's USB connection with Lectroclean (or suchlike) and blow out with canned air.
Do it to the computer's USB socket too.

Mac

[Loose rivets]

I'll give thought to connectivity, Mac, but the camera has historically been in the PC and I've moved to plugging it into the desk USB hub so I can monitor the lighted socket doing its thing.

Just a chance the original quite old socket is getting tarnished and the one in which the hub goes. Accumulation of error logic to be applied.

[IBMJunkman]

I think shutdown and hibernate are getting confused.

Shutdown finishes all activity and powers off the PC. On power on the PC glues though POST (Power On Self Test) and the OS is loaded fresh.
Hibernate finishes all activity then saves the state of memory to the hibernate file and powers off. On power on the hibernate file is read back into memory and you pick up where you left off. Same programs running, etc.

[Loose rivets]

Sunton848. Thanks for the input. I have to say I had not gone into privacy etc., but had a look. I found nothing to suggest things had been turned off, but cycled a couple of switches while I was there. I then plugged in my old Microsoft camera and the drive light indicators (a nifty little software program) lit up C through F. They were very busy.

While in MS site, I happened to notice the new camera my son purchased for me was really expensive. £89. I had no idea. It too made the discs very busy, but not for so long.

I went to Skype and this time tried the echo test thing. Suddenly I was on the screen! Okay, so I'm now not at all sure what kick-started the thing back into life, but without your post I'd have probably let a year or two go by without bothering. I give up easily these days but I had tried both cameras several times.

Device manager is now showing "imaging devices" once more. I lost it while trying this and that in December. That's when I gave up. A sub-directory of that shows the Microsoft Life Cam - the last plugged in. So maybe MS has done a fix, or maybe opening the Settings Privacy triggered something. But I'm back in business. Thanks.

Now all I want is for may American grandchildren to Skype.

IBMJunkman I didn't know about it, but the gist I got was that a fast start option acts a little like a mini-Hybernate with much less stored. It sounded plausible, but I've been left way behind in the computer world these days so don't know.

[jimjim1]

I think shutdown and hibernate are getting confused.


Sadly, with W10 Microsoft has indeed confused them.

A shutdown is no longer a shutdown, unless "Fast Startup" has been turned OFF. ON is the default.

Shutdown closes all the applications and then does some kind of hibernate. On power on it does a "driver refresh" whatever that is, but it is not a true cold start. I ALWAYS disable Fast Startup on W10. If I want hibernate I can choose hibernate from the power menu. When I choose shutdown I want a shutdown.

With the default "Fast Startup" setting (i.e. ON) the only way to get a cold startup of Windows is to choose "Restart" from the power menu. Of course in that case the damn hardware is not cold started. While it is rare, or very rare, these days for the hardware to misbehave, if I am having computer trouble I want to know that both the hardware and the software have had a cold start, preferably at the same time.

So - Fast Startup OFF - if computer misbehaving, shutdown then power back on.

[/rant mode] :-)

Hmmm. I now forget, this may have started with Windows 8.