Feb 11 2014

Hello visitors to our computer blog. In this review, I will share information on how to enable a webcam on a laptop or computer.

The previous post was devoted to the topic or computer. Today we will talk about webcams, with the help of which you can communicate almost live over the Internet with other people.

Checking all cables and connectors

First of all, to check if your webcam is working, you need to make sure that it is connected to the computer if you are using a separate USB camera. If you have a laptop with a built-in camera, then we will need third-party programs to check its functionality.

We look in the device manager

We go to the device manager of our computer. I wrote more about how to get into the device manager here:. To do this, you need to follow these steps: My Computer (Computer) >>> Properties >>> Device Manager >>> Imaging Devices.

Your camera should be in the image processing devices tab. If there are question marks or exclamation marks next to it, then you need to download and install drivers.

If you have a laptop, then you may have a disk with drivers from it, if you don’t have one, then you need to go to the official website of the laptop manufacturer, type in your model and download the driver for the webcam.

If there is a down arrow, it means the equipment is disabled, you need to turn it on. Click on it right click mouse and select enable, you may need to restart the computer.

If you have a separate camera that connects via a USB cable, then the company and model markings should be written on it. We go to the browser, any search engine, type the camera model, it is advisable to download the drivers from the official website, but if this is not possible, then you can from others.

Windows Tools - Film Studio

The Windows 7 operating system does not have built-in programs with which you can turn on the webcam and make sure it works or not.

Such a program can be downloaded on the Internet, it is called Windows Movie Maker, but to use it, you need to download and install it on your computer. You can find Windows Movie Maker (Film Studio) on the Internet on the official Microsoft website or through any search engine.

Skype is our assistant

To check your webcam you can use third party programs, for example Skype and agent mail ru. If you are not yet registered on Skype, but want to use it and register, then read here:

If everything is fine, then the first time you launch Skype with a working camera, the following window will appear: Your video is working!

Go to Skype >>> Tools >>> Settings... >>> Basic >>> Video settings >>> Webcam.

If everything is in order, the camera is working, then you should see a real-time image.

Webcam Surveyor program

Webcam Surveyor is a simple utility for quickly checking your webcam. When I worked in service center, I often used this utility to check the camera on laptops and regular computers. Its size is slightly more than 2 megabytes.

You can download the Webcam Surveyor program here:

After downloading and installing Webcam, go to the utility from the shortcut or start menu (if you checked the appropriate boxes at the time of installation).

This is a trial version for 30 days, click Agree.

Online camera verification services

There are online services for checking your webcam on the Internet in real time. Here are two links for testing:

The toolster.ru service is temporarily down, I hope everything will get better soon.

We go to one of the sites and are immediately asked to give us access to our camera and microphone, but are warned that we may be recorded. Click Allow to view or Deny if you change your mind.

Of course there is a risk, but it is minimal. To check the camera, I think nothing bad will happen in a couple of seconds.

If your camera has a microphone, then a green scale will jump near the image on the right, which indicates the microphone sound level.

On the second testing site everything is the same, only a slightly different interface and no microphone check.

What to do if the picture is upside down

In my practice, there have been cases when a user turned on his webcam, and the picture on his monitor was upside down. This means that your camera drivers are not working correctly, or are not installed for your model.

To solve this problem, you need to go to the official website of your camera manufacturer, download and install the original drivers.

What to do if nothing helps

If, after all the steps taken, your camera still does not work, then I recommend the following:

• To restart a computer
• Insert the cable from the camera into another USB socket
• Remove drivers and install original ones from the official website
• Take it to a repair or service center

And finally, buy a new one to replace the old one that didn’t work.

How to turn on a webcam on a laptop or computer | website

In custody

Today, my friends and I learned how to turn on the webcam on a laptop or computer if it doesn’t work. To do this, we used the following assistants: cables and connectors, device manager, Windows tools - film studio, Skype programs and Webcam Surveyor, a couple of online services. We also learned what to do if the camera image is upside down.

You may have questions related to how to turn on the webcam on your computer or laptop. You can ask them below in the comments to this article, and also use the form with me.

Thank you for reading me on

Nowadays the laptop market is overflowing with a variety of models. Manufacturers of spare parts for laptops regularly release new models. And it’s hard to imagine that any company today would release a laptop without a webcam. If previously only expensive models were equipped with it, today the presence of this component will no longer surprise anyone. However, when buying a new PC, some users cannot understand how to turn on the camera on their laptop. Let's try to figure this issue out together.

Preparation

First you need to see if the camera on the laptop is turned on at all. You need to run the program that is responsible for its operation. You can also try running a web camera test from the client program interface. If, when you start it, no image appears on the display, then the camera is not connected at all.

How to turn on the camera on a laptop in this case?

On the keyboard unit you need to find the "Fn" key. As a rule, there are two such keys. They are located at the bottom of the keyboard in different corners. When the user presses the "Fn" key, he can access other function keys. Typically, such keys are highlighted in blue, and they are located at the top of the keyboard block (on the F1, F2, F3, F4, etc. keys). However, you need to carefully examine the keyboard to avoid using other functions by mistake. While holding down the "Fn" key, simply press another key indicating the web camera. After this, a camera icon with the word “On” should appear on the laptop desktop.

How to turn on the camera on a laptop if this method Does not help?

If the method with the "Fn" key did not help, you can try the option with standard using Windows. In the “Start” menu, select “Control Panel”, where we go to the “Administration” tab. We look for the “Computer Management” shortcut in the window that opens, where we need “Hardware Manager”. The entire list of computer devices will open in front of you. There should be a web camera icon in the "Image Processing Device" tab. Here you can enable it by right-clicking on the icon and selecting “Enable”.

How to turn on the camera in a laptop if it is standalone?

If, however, your laptop does not have a built-in camera, and you are using a standalone one, then you need to see if there is a power button on it. Sometimes users simply forget to turn it on. After turning on this button, the camera will start on its own and display the application interface on the display.

How to turn on the camera on a laptop if none of the methods helped?

So, if the camera still fails to connect, you need to check whether the drivers are installed for it. How to do it? If the camera does not appear in Device Manager, then, of course, no drivers are installed.

What to do in this case?

The algorithm for finding a driver for a web camera is quite simple: determine the model, search on the Internet suitable driver, download and install. You can find the camera model on the packaging or directly on the device itself (if the camera is standalone).

Another way

You can also check the camera's operation in the Skype program interface. When you launch Skype, it should turn on automatically and show the image on the screen.

Many laptop users who switched to Windows 7 from Windows XP very often wonder about turning on the camera on their laptop. In Windows XP this was done very easily - directly through “My Computer”. Windows 7 does not have this feature. In this article you will learn about all the features of turning on the camera on a laptop with Windows 7.

Laptop camera in Windows 7

In Windows XP, as well as in Windows 10, the laptop camera was easily turned on using built-in tools, without requiring the installation of additional or special programs.

In Windows XP it was easily activated directly through the camera icon directly in the “ My computer«.

Webcam in Windows XP

In Windows 10, developers have provided a special application that comes immediately with installed Windows. To turn on the laptop camera, you just need to open the menu “ Start" and find in the list of programs an application called " Camera«.

Once you launch it, your laptop's camera will turn on automatically and you can take pictures of yourself and save the pictures directly to your computer.

Camera app on Windows 10

Windows 7 does not have built-in tools and programs for enabling and using a laptop’s web camera. To use it you need to install one of the specialized programs:

• Skype;
• WebcamMax Free;
• manycam;
• and others.

After you launch one of these programs, your laptop's webcam will automatically turn on, as indicated by the lit indicator on the laptop lid in its upper center.

The only condition is the presence of drivers for the web camera. To check this, just go to “ Computer management«.

Go to computer management

There select " device Manager«.

device Manager

And in the list, usually at the very bottom, find the item “ Imaging device“, open it and make sure there is something there without exclamation marks.

Webcam in task manager

conclusions

Thus, summing up all of the above, we can assure you that to turn on the web camera on a laptop, just like on regular computer, you need to install some program designed to work with a web camera. When launched, it will activate the camera itself and you will be able to use it for its intended purpose.

How to turn on a webcam on a laptop is a very common and popularly asked question in Lately. The fact is that modern laptops and netbooks are equipped with built-in cameras so that the user can have a video call over the Internet from anywhere in the world. And today we’ll talk about the cameras that are built into laptops, how to turn them on correctly, and what to do if they don’t work. This information will be relevant for computer users. In this article I will talk about several activation methods, and also describe some possible malfunctions, making the camera’s operation not entirely correct. Let's go!

The first step is to contact owners of external webcams who are not satisfied with the quality of the built-in one. As a rule, such devices are connected via USB cable, so if it does not turn on or is not detected, check the connection, try inserting it into another USB connector. Did not help? Or do you still have a built-in web camera? Maybe you forgot to install the drivers? Read on!

Drivers for webcam

Drivers are special utility utilities that “tell” the computer about a new connected device so that the system “understands” it and operates correctly. You probably have drivers installed on your laptop for a printer, scanner, or some other things? So, a webcam is no exception. It also needs its own drivers, and if you don’t have them installed, be sure to download them from the Internet and install them.

I would like to note that now you can very often find webcams that do not require special drivers from the manufacturer. It is enough to insert the camera into the desired connector, after which the system will install the drivers for the webcam, which were already preinstalled in the system. This especially applies to users who have Windows 7 and Windows 8 installed.

If you need to find a driver for a webcam, then don’t worry, finding them won’t be difficult, you just need to know the model of the camera, or the laptop if it has a built-in camera. In order to determine the model, pay attention to the packaging (when you bought it) of the webcam or on the webcam itself or on the wire; there may be a sticker in which the model is written, see the image below.

How to install drivers for a webcam

As an example, I decided to take a non-built-in webcam in a laptop so that you know how to turn on a webcam on a computer. So, if you know the model, you can now start searching. We type something like this into Google: “(driver model)” and you will be happy! In order not to be unfounded, let's look at a live example. I have an old web camera, for which we will now find the necessary driver.

I recognized the camera model from the sticker. I go to Google and enter “ilook 300 drivers”, after which I look at the links so that they lead to the manufacturer’s website, and not some sharashkin’s office.

I opened two links, one in Russian and the other in English. Let's figure out how to download a driver for a webcam using the example of a Russian-language site. I go to the website, but there is no link to download drivers, so I click “Technical Specifications”.

This is where the drivers are located. I select the one I need and download it.

After downloading, simply install them, agreeing to all the requirements and agreements in the installation wizard software. You can then restart your computer, although this is usually not necessary.

Skype can help you

What to do if the drivers did not help? How to turn on the webcam on a laptop then? Firstly, there is no need to remove them under any circumstances, let them be. And secondly, we should check Skype settings and see if there is a signal at all or not. To do this, we turn on the program, in top menu select “Tools” - “Settings”. Next, in the “Basic” tab, click on the item: “Video settings”.

If you see a video broadcast in the window that opens on the right, then the camera is configured correctly. By the way, in this window you can also adjust the camera, for example, make the picture lighter or darker; if you play a little with these settings, you can improve your image.

And in the case when no video broadcast appeared, and instead you saw the message: “Skype did not detect a video camera,” then you have a problem either with Skype or with wires or connectors, which, by the way, is more likely.

Reinstall Skype, and if this does not help, deal with the technical side of the issue, and not with the software, since everything is fine with it. But let me remind you once again that the correct driver is the key to successful operation of the device. If you install the wrong driver or not for your system version, you will not see any image. Therefore, I advise you to install the correct driver for your webcam.

Additional options for turning on the webcam

You can also check if the webcam is working correctly standard means Windows. To do this, go to the Start menu - Control Panel - Hardware and Sound.

In the “Devices and Printers” section, select the “Device Manager” subsection. In the window that opens, look for “Image processing devices.” If you don’t have anything there, then the problem is really on the technical side.

You can try turning on and then turning off your webcam again. To do this, right-click on it and select “Disable”.

Reboot the computer. Then go back to the device manager and select “Enable” by right-clicking on the webcam.

The following information will be relevant for users who use the built-in web camera. Thus, I will show you how to turn on the webcam on your laptop. The following option can be proposed as a way to enable it. Among the F1...F12 keys, we are looking for the one with a blue icon with a camera on it. After that, press the combination of the Fn + desired key buttons. This way you activate and deactivate the webcam.

So, you understand how to turn on the camera on your laptop and computer. Now let's check it not through Skype.

Exist special programs, which are designed to work with web cameras, but to check the functionality of the web camera, Skype programs are usually used, or in other similar clients where video conversations are possible, for example Mail Agent.

Concerning online services, here we can cite as an example a world-scale project “”. Both sites offer their users to chat online with a randomly selected interlocutor from among those who are also currently on the site. It doesn't really matter, we're here to test the webcam.

I'll look at an example of the first service. Move your mouse pointer to the bottom left screen and click “Allow access to devices.”

A window will appear, select Allow and click Close.

Basically, everything after which you can see yourself on the screen, which is what we needed.

Webcam program

I didn’t want to talk about the programs, but after finishing the article, I decided to add to the article. I think this addition will be important for some users.

The most popular, as I know, is the WebcamMax program. This program is paid, but for those who studied my video course and more experienced users, I think they understand how and where to get it.

The program is simple, after opening, click on the “man” picture, a menu will appear on the right. Here you can select your webcam if it does not want to show.

The program also has all sorts of effects to apply to you. How to do it? Click on the cap.

Effects that you can use will appear on the right.

To apply multiple effects, select 3 hats in the top menu, then navigate through the categories on the left, where there will be different overlays. The cool thing is that when you move your head, these overlays move with you. I experimented a little and this is what I came up with:

That's all I wanted to tell you on this topic. I hope that now the question of how to turn on a webcam on a laptop will no longer arise. If you can’t turn on the webcam, then you can try connecting it to another computer and check if it’s working. And don't forget that you need to install drivers.

A web camera is exactly the device that allows us, during communication, not only to hear the voice of the interlocutor, but also to see him. How to turn on the camera in Skype, because without this the video call will simply be unavailable, which means that a good half will cease to be relevant useful functions programs.

You can find out how to solve the issue in our next article.

On a laptop

All modern laptops have a built-in webcam additional connection does not need. But if you do, know that turning on the camera on a laptop in Skype is perhaps the easiest way, and this instruction will be the shortest. But it also has its own nuances.

• Usually, the web on a laptop does not require any additional activation; it is an automatic process. But some models require turning on this equipment with a special button (or key combination) located on the keyboard.
• There shouldn't be any problems with drivers either, but it's still worth checking. Open “Device Manager”, and then “Imaging Devices”. If your webcam is on the list and the yellow triangle next to it is not lit or Exclamation point- Everything is fine

• Now about the program itself. How to enable the camera on Skype on a laptop by setting up the program itself? Open the menu by clicking on the three dots at the top of the screen, and here click “Sound and Video Settings”.

See which camera is installed by default. Why, you ask, is there only one webcam on the laptop? Information about the connected equipment is saved in the device’s memory, and if a third-party webcam was tested on your laptop, Skype can set it by default, even if it has been disabled for a long time. This software error is quite common, so be careful.

On the computer

How to turn on the video camera on your computer in Skype? Nothing complicated:

• Connect new equipment to a free USB port
• Wait until the device sees it
• Install the latest drivers for the new web camera from installation disk. Sometimes operating system itself searches for “firewood” and installs them. If this does not happen, and there is no installation disk either, go to the website of the manufacturer of your web-ki and download the drivers here. You can check if everything is in order with the “firewood” in the “Device Manager”, in the “Image Processing Devices” tab (Windows OS)

• Go to the settings of the program itself (three dots, remember?). Open “Sound and Video Settings” and select it from the list again - now video communication will be carried out using it.

On the phone

How to turn on the camera in Skype on your phone? There is nothing complicated about this either.

• In the case of a phone, you will not encounter problems such as lost drivers or an additional power button. Actually, the user should not have any difficulties here.
• All you need is to be able to switch the image from the main camera to the front camera and back in Skype
• All this is done in the settings of the application itself. Open Settings and select Sound and Video Settings. You can select the active camera in this tab and you can do it with one touch.
• On a tablet, you can switch the webcam in exactly the same way.

Possible problems

Why doesn't the webcam turn on in Skype? Let's look at the most common problems and ways to solve them.

• The webcam does not turn on in Skype on a laptop or computer due to driver problems. Check if everything is in order, just as we told you. If necessary, update or reinstall the drivers
• Often problems arise due to untimely installed update. Install latest version programs
• Do not run two programs that use a webcam at the same time
• The reasons may lie in the malfunction of the equipment itself.

You can find out more about this by reading our next article.