How to install a built-in camera on a laptop. Instructions for turning on the webcam on a laptop

A webcam (webcam) is an integral part of the vast majority of laptops. She, by default and after the first start of the device, is immediately ready for use. But what if you are trying to get an image from the camera, but there is none?

The main thing is not to panic. The situations when mobile computer the webcam does not work, more often due to the fact that it is simply turned off or not installed in the operating system (breakdowns of this device, fortunately, are rare). Read below to learn how to turn on the camera on a laptop and troubleshoot related problems.

How to quickly check if the camera is working

To find out if your webcam works at all (maybe it doesn’t work in only one program, because it is disabled in the settings), go to the service and click " Check webcam».

If you see a prompt to allow access to your device for Adobe Flash Player, so everything is in order: the camera is working. Check " Allow” and check if an image appears on the screen.

If you see a message like in the screenshot below, then the camera is really not working. What to do in this case, we will understand further.

Checking the status of the webcam in the system

We begin diagnosing any problems with the equipment by checking how it is displayed in the device manager. To open the dispatcher, press the hot keys Windows + R (this will launch the Run application), enter the command in the "Open" field devmgmt.msc and click OK. The method is convenient because it works in all versions of Windows.

Expand the list in the dispatcher window Imaging devices» and see if our webcam is there. The following options are possible:

• The webcam is not in the list of equipment - the computer does not see it. This happens due to a hardware outage or physical failure.
• There is no camera, but there is an unknown device, which, most likely, is it. This means that the computer sees it, but cannot recognize it. The reason is the lack of a driver.
• There is a camera in the list, but next to it there is a yellow triangle with an exclamation mark or a black arrow in a circle. The first indicates a malfunction, the second indicates a shutdown in operating system.

Turn on the webcam from the keyboard

The function of turning on / off the webcam from the keyboard is not implemented on all laptop models. Where it is, a miniature image of a camera is applied to one of the keys. Most often this is the "V" key, sometimes "Escape" or others from F1-F12.

To turn on the webcam, press this key simultaneously with "Fn". After that, the webcam should appear in the device manager. If it's still not there, you probably have the one rare case when it is physically defective or not connected.

Installing the driver

If something unrecognized appears in the device manager after turning on the webcam hardware, install a driver for it. It is best to download it from the website of the laptop manufacturer or the webcam itself, if you know exactly its model. Or install from a disk, if one was included in the delivery package of your device.

If you do not know the exact name of the laptop model, turn it over. Each laptop has a sticker on the bottom cover where indicated.

This is what the branded label of the MSI MS-1757 laptop looks like:

Having determined the model, find it on the manufacturer's website and download the driver for your operating system in the "Support" section. Install like a normal application, reboot your machine after installation.

by the way , there may not be a separate webcam driver for some OS versions, since it is included in theWindows (USB Video Class Driver). Problems with this group of drivers are solved by installing updates or .

Fixing webcam recognition errors in the system

If the webcam is marked with a black arrow in Device Manager (disabled in Windows), right-click on it and click " Engage».

When disabled in the operating system (by the user or programs), this is enough to make it work.

If the webcam is marked with an exclamation mark on a yellow triangle, which means: “the device is not working properly”, click the command “ Delete" and restart your computer. The system will recognize it again and automatically reinstall the driver.

If it doesn't help, click on " Update drivers»:

Specify the Internet (if you are not sure that the correct driver is present in the system) or this computer (if the camera worked properly with the old driver before the problem occurred or you have a fresh version of it) as the search location.

Modern laptop models are almost all sold with a built-in webcam. Considering that among computer users video communication is becoming more and more popular every year, this is very convenient.

But suppose you did not use the camera, but after making the first call, you paid attention to the image - very light, dark, black and white, and this option is also possible - the camera simply did not turn on. In any case, you need to configure the webcam on your laptop for it to work correctly in the future.

Often, problems with the camera are solved very easily. If all else fails, then the problem is probably related to the hardware, and you need to bring the laptop in for repair. To buy a brand new, or not quite brand new, laptop with confidence that the camera is in working order, I advise you to read about several ways to check the camera on a laptop.

So the first thing to do is check installed camera drivers. We go "Start" - "Control Panel". Here we open "Device Manager".

We find the item in the list and expand it by clicking on the small arrow. Available connected devices will be displayed here. The one responsible for the camera will be called something like Web, Cam, Video. Look for a yellow exclamation mark or a red cross on the icon next to the name - this may indicate incorrect installation of drivers or their absence.

We right-click on the desired device and go to the context menu item "Properties".

On the General tab, in the field "Device Status" should be written "Device is working properly". This means that the camera is in good working order. If there is another inscription - go to the tab "Driver".

Here you can see which driver, when it was installed, update or remove existing drivers.

If problems with the camera started after laptop repair, then click "Update" and select "Automatically search for updated drivers". The wizard will search for drivers on the laptop and on the Internet. If it finds drivers on the laptop, install them and the problem will be solved.

You can install drivers yourself. Your laptop or camera should come with an installation disc. Insert it into the laptop's drive, then follow the suggested steps of the installation wizard. As a result, you will install all the drivers necessary for the connected devices, including the camera.

If you can't find a disk, or you bought a camera separately, and the laptop simply doesn't have a disk drive, don't worry. You can download drivers from the official website of the laptop manufacturer for free. Then install the drivers for the device yourself.

Special programs can also help you find and install drivers for your laptop. You can use the free program Driver Pack Solution. You can download it and read about it in more detail by clicking on the link.

After installing the drivers, be sure to restart the laptop.

The second thing to do is check if the camera is connected in device manager. We go, in the already familiar, device manager and open the item "Image Processing Devices". Look at the icon of the device responsible for the camera, there should not be an arrow next to it, as shown in the figure.

If it is, right-click on it and select from the context menu "Engage".

The device manager will blink, that is, it will be updated, the arrow will disappear, and the camera should work.

The third thing to do is to install a special webcam software. You can download it from the Internet, for example, LiveCam, WebCam Max or SplitCam. There are also various portable versions that do not need to be installed on your computer, download and use.

Run the selected program. After that, a window should appear with the image entering the camera, and a green indicator will light up near the camera itself, which means that it is working.

In such programs, you can configure the camera. Find the relevant item. I have this "Options" - "Video Capture Filter".

Here you can change some camera parameters, and make the image normal for perception.

If you do not want to download any programs, then consider the fourth paragraph. It suits those who skype installed on laptop. You can also use it to set up your camera. Go to "Tools" - "Settings".

Next, on the "Basic" tab, open "Video Settings". Here, in the main window, video from the camera should appear; to change the settings, click on the button "Webcam settings".

In the next window, you can select the desired settings for the camera image.

I hope the described methods will help you set up the camera on your laptop: the image from it will be displayed during video calls, with normal brightness and contrast.

(1 ratings, average: 5,00 out of 5)

Webmaster. Higher education in the specialty "Information Protection". Author of most articles and computer literacy lessons

Thanks to the Internet, people are constantly finding new ways to communicate. More recently, chats have been the most popular means of communication. social networks emails etc.

Now it is possible not only to talk with another person on the Internet, but also to see him. This was made possible thanks to Skype and other similar programs. True, for communication it will not be enough to install and enable Skype, you also need to know how to enable a webcam on Windows 7. Below we will try to figure out how this is done.

The first step is to connect the camera to the computer. On a laptop, it is already installed and built into the computer itself. It should be connected to a stationary PC via USB port. Normally, the camera is powered automatically from the computer system.

However, there are models that need additional batteries or a power cable.

Today there are two types of cameras. The first is attached to the top of the monitor using a specialized mount.



The second option is a camera on a special leg with a built-in microphone.



To do this, you will need to do something, such as for example.




How to enable webcam on windows 7 and set it up

An external camera refers to an additional device. It must be connected externally in most cases to the laptop's USB port. Since almost all webcams are equipped with a USB interface, they can work with any computer.

The shapes and designs of external video cameras are completely different. Many have their own switch.

In order for the connection to be complete and the signal to be transmitted without interruption, you can use extension cables. It feeds the devices additionally and improves the quality of signal transmission.

An active-type extension cable, if necessary, will allow you to carry the camera away from the computer for a distance of more than 10 meters. The passive one is a little shorter and will not allow you to move away with the camera by a maximum of 5 meters. They look like this.



Such cameras are sold as a set along with a CD / DVD disk, on which drivers and software from the manufacturer are recorded.

In order to connect an external video camera to a computer and configure it, you need to connect it to the port and turn it on if the camera body has a button to turn it on. Insert the disc into the drive and install software.

The program that is installed on the disk will help the user to configure absolutely all the parameters of working with the video device, for example, adjust the sound, password protection, and more.

However, modern developments allow you to turn on removable cameras without the need to manual installation. After connecting the device, Windows will find it and automatically configure it.

Setting up the camera in Windows and in various applications

Usually, simply turning on the camera is not enough. In order to see your appearance, you need to check how the device works. To do this, go to the control panel and find the section of cameras and scanners there. If the device is working, after double-clicking on the camera, an image will appear on the screen.

A significant number of users buy a camcorder for the first time precisely to use all the functions of an application such as. It is very convenient and easy to set up. It is even easier to set up the camera there than in Windows itself.

After starting the program, you can start preparing a video image. At the top there is a tool option, where at the bottom you need to click on settings. A window will appear in which we select what exactly needs to be changed. In this case, a video setting is needed. At the bottom you need to click on the word "no one".

After that, left-click on the webcam settings. A new window will appear where you can adjust the parameter values. It is convenient that in real time you can observe their change.



Enabling a built-in device in a laptop

In the laptop, the camera is initially disabled. It does not work in standby mode. Therefore, before using it, you need to enable it. Most easy way, is the use of hardware keys. One of the keyboard shortcuts is the Fn button.

The second key depends on the laptop model. In most cases, the function keys are F1 or F12.

To do this, study the purpose of the keys, and also better instruction attached to the laptop. The meaning of these keys is shown as small drawings in the corner of the buttons. For example, Fn plus V, which has a camera icon in the corner.

After the device has been activated, some applications can automatically turn on the camera and broadcast the image to the interlocutor by default.

Good day.

Every modern laptop is equipped with a webcam (after all, Internet calls are becoming more and more popular every day), but not every laptop has it working ...

In fact, the webcam in a laptop is always connected to power (regardless of whether you use it or not). Another thing is that in most cases the camera is not active - that is, it does not shoot. And this is partly correct, why should the camera work if you do not speak with the interlocutor and did not give permission for this?

In this short article I want to show how easy it is to enable the built-in webcam on almost any modern laptop. So…

Popular programs for checking and configuring a webcam

Most often, to turn on the webcam, it is enough to launch some application that uses it. Very often, such an application turns out to be Skype (the program is famous for making calls over the Internet, and with a webcam - you can generally use video calls) or QIP (initially, the program allowed you to exchange text messages, but now you can talk with video and even send files...).

QIP

Official site: http://welcome.qip.ru/im

To use the webcam in the program, just open the settings and go to the "Video and Sound" tab (see Fig. 1). The video from the webcam should appear at the bottom right (and the LED on the camera itself usually lights up).

If the image from the camera does not appear, try the Skype program first (if there is no image from the webcam, there is a high probability of a problem with the drivers or the camera hardware itself).

Rice. 1. Checking and configuring the webcam in QIP

Skype

Website: http://www.skype.com/ru/

Setting up and checking the Skype camera is identical: first, open the settings and go to the "Video Settings" section (see Fig. 2). If everything is in order with the drivers and the camera itself, a picture should appear (which, by the way, can be adjusted to the desired brightness, clarity, etc.).

Rice. 2. Skype video settings

By the way, one important point! Some laptop models allow you to use the camera by pressing just a couple of keys. Most often, these are the keys: Fn + Esc and Fn + V (with the support of this function, usually, a webcam icon is drawn on the key).

What to do if there is no image from the webcam

It also happens that no program shows anything from the webcam. Most often this is due to a lack of drivers (less often, a breakdown of the webcam itself).

Opposite it there should not be any exclamation marks or crosses (example in Fig. 5);

Press the enable (or enable, see Figure 4) button. The fact is that the camera can be turned off in the device manager! After such a procedure, you can try to use the camera again in popular applications (see above).

If in device manager an exclamation mark is on in front of your webcam - it means that there is no driver for it in the system (or it does not work correctly). Usually, Windows 7, 8, 10 automatically find and install drivers for 99% of webcams (and everything works fine).

How to find your "native" driver:

Programs for automatic driver update:

Rice. 5. No driver...

Privacy settings in Windows 10

Many users have already switched to new system Windows 10. The system is not bad, except for the problems with some drivers and privacy (for those who care about it).

Windows 10 has settings that change the privacy mode (which can block the webcam). If you use this OS and the picture from the camera is not displayed for you, I recommend checking this option ...

First, open the START menu, then the tab " Settings"(See Fig. 6).

Next, you need to open the section " Confidentiality". Then open the section with the camera and check if the applications have permission to use it. If there is no such permission, it is not surprising that Windows 10 will try to block everything “unnecessary” that wants to access the webcam ...

Rice. 7. Privacy options

By the way, to check the webcam - you can also use the built-in application in Windows 8, 10. It is called consonantly - “Camera”, see fig. eight.

Rice. 8. Camera app in Windows 10

That's all for me, successful setup and work 🙂

A webcam (“webcam”) is a digital device for recording video information that can be transmitted over a network. “Webcam” is an attribute of any laptop: their manufacturers equip their products with webcams “by default”. Many of these are also sold separately.

The difference between “webcam” and full-fledged video cameras is the focus on the capabilities of network programs with multimedia functions, that is, the emphasis is not on the quality of shooting, but on the ability to quickly transfer images to the network. Therefore, the majority of models have a low resolution, not the best color reproduction and a minimum of settings. The most expensive web cameras are capable of shooting at the level of an “average” camera.


How to install and configure a webcam on Windows 7

Installing and configuring the built-in camera

Built-in laptop webcams are usually ready to go right away, just launch a network application, such as Skype, and set the desired video settings in it.



If the program says that you do not have a camera, but you are definitely sure otherwise, then it is disabled or not installed. On some laptop models, first of all, you need to turn on the webcam physically - simultaneously press the Fn key + one of the keys in the F1-F12 row. A miniature in the form of a camera drawn on the button will help determine the desired combination.



Find “Imaging devices” in the list of equipment and expand the tab. If the webcam is installed but not active, you will see an icon next to it in the form of a circle with an arrow .

To enable a device, open its context menu and click Enable. When prompted by Windows, restart your computer and the camera will start working.



If there is no web camera in the device manager, but there is unidentified hardware, as in the picture, then you need to install the driver.



You can try to install the webcam driver using the system tools - most likely, Windows will find something suitable in its databases, and the device will work. To do this, select the “Update drivers” command from the context menu of unknown hardware



and specify the search method - automatically or manually. If the web camera was not previously installed, then there are probably no suitable drivers on the computer. Automatic search will find them on the Internet.



You can also find out the webcam model from the laptop documentation, go to its manufacturer's website and download drivers from there.

Along with the driver, not always, but often a program is installed to configure the built-in webcam. For example, Cyberlink YouCam on HP laptops:



With its help, you can not only adjust the shooting parameters, but also edit the image.


Installing and configuring an external camera

By external, we mean a “webcam” as a separate device that connects externally to the computer's peripheral port. Most of these cameras have a USB interface, that is, they are universal, able to work on any PC and not only under Windows.



External “webcams” ​​are absolutely different designs and forms, many have a built-in microphone, and some have a separate switch on the body. To connect them, it is best to use active extension cables that can additionally feed the device, thereby improving the signal quality. The active cable allows you to move the camera away from the computer at a distance of 10 meters or more, and the passive (normal) cable allows you to move it up to a maximum of 5 meters.



An external webcam always comes with a CD/DVD with drivers and software from the manufacturer. To set up the camera, just connect it to a PC port, turn it on if there is a button for this, insert a disk into the drive and install the software. The included software allows you to adjust shooting settings, as well as enable or disable options such as microphone volume, password protection, and more.



However, thanks to the plug&play technology, most webcams can work without manually installing drivers. After physical Windows connections recognizes and adjusts them automatically.


Programs for working with webcams

If the webcam control program is not included in the package, you can install it separately. There are many applications for Windows 7 that allow you to adjust the camera thinner than the standard ones. And their additional functions make video chat more fun.


manycam



This program will not only improve the quality of the picture transmitted to the interlocutor, but also add a special charm to your appearance - cartoon eyes or mouth, glasses, mustaches, beard, horns, etc. Or change the background of the room, for example, to a seascape. The program is able to recognize movement, so all visual overlays will move with your face. In addition, ManyCam allows you to draw on the image directly online.

If you communicate in a video chat with several interlocutors, you can enable a separate window with different special effects for each.

ManyCam is fully compatible with Windows 7.


iSpy



iSpy is a video surveillance program with the function of transferring footage over the Internet. It allows you to partially replace the more expensive technology of IP video surveillance and can be used to protect premises and outdoor areas.

To work with iSpy, you can configure an unlimited number of webcams, including those connected to different computers of one local network. The recorded material is saved in Flash format and transferred to the server for storage. The user can view both archives and real-time images at any time, as well as turn the cameras on or off remotely.