Notebooks & Netbooks

[Al-helpafriend]

Hi, my friend's laptop is running Windows 8 and she had been using her built-in webcam via Skype fine but now it states that a webcam is not detected. I have looked in the hardware device listing and there is no webcam device listed. I therefore cannot try uninstalling and reinstalling the driver, presuming there is one. Having said that, I have also viewed the "Acer Drivers" download page for this model and no webcam driver is included in that list either so I am baffled as to what has happened to the webcam or how to fix it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

[laurent_14]

Hello Al-helpafriend,

This is a windows driver for integrated webcam:

1. In the device manager, uninstall the driver
2. Shutdown and restart your latop
3. Windows will detect a new device and install  the correct driver

[Al-helpafriend]

Hi laurent_14, thank you for your prompt reply.  I do understand what you are suggesting but as I mentioned in my original post, there is no webcam or webcam driver shown in device manager, therefore I have nothing that I can easily uninstall.  That's the problem!  I'm sure that it should be easily identifiable if it were listed.  Perhaps you might be able to quote me how this line reads in device manager just in case it is not so obvious.  In the meantime, I shall keep digging!  Many thanks.

[laurent_14]

To complete my reply:

Look this Skype page: How can I solve problems with video calling in Skype for Windows desktop?

[laurent_14]

In the Device Manager ---> Expand Imaging Devices --->

[napalm]

Did your friend reinstall the OS recently to fix other issues? Perhaps one of the chipset drivers is not installed so make sure of that.

In the drivers/support software list ensure you have the correct OS selected and click on Application.

Attempt to download and install the WebCam Application.

Regards.

[Al-helpafriend]

Hi napalm, thank you for your feedback.  She has not reinstalled the OS since it was new 14 months ago. I am also trying to assist her with her update from Windows 8.0 to 8.1 as unfortunately, she is one of many who has not successfully been able to complete this update despite having all available Windows Updates installed.  I will try again, having first uninstalled the Intel HD 4000 graphics driver as I understand this may cause the update to fail.

Sadly, her webcam is simply not being detected despite having worked fine before.  When I next have her laptop here, I will look again at the drivers/support software list although I am surprised that there is no "Imaging devices" section when in Device Manager which is why I suspect there may be a hardware fault here.

[Al-helpafriend]

This webcam issue was existing even before she updated from Windows 8.0 to 8.1.

The weird thing is that it does occasionally come back briefly before failing again, most often when laptop is first powered up.  When it is not detected, there is no "Imaging Devices" category showing in Device Manager unless you click on "View", "Show Hidden Devices".  When you do that and right-click on "Properties" for "HD WebCam", it shows an error code 45.

I have tried uninstalling the driver and then had trouble reinstalling the new driver as the webcam could not be found!  I did by chance eventually manage to reinstall the driver and I have also run Microsoft Fixit (http://support.microsoft.com/mats/hardware_device_problems/?wa=wsignin1.0) for undetected hardware several times but this does not appear to help.

On a rare occasion when the webcam was working briefly, I uninstalled and reinstalled the Acer Crystal Eye webcam software from Acer's website as this can only be installed (like the driver) when the webcam is detected.  However, this did not cure the problem.

Unless someone out there has any additional advice for this frustrating issue, I can only presume that it is an internal hardware/connection issue which means the notebook has to be returned to Acer for a chargeable repair which I am naturally trying to avoid. Many thanks for your kind help.