Do you own a HP Pavilion Notebook with an Integrated Webcam? The one that’s built into the top of the lid? If you own one such notebook, has its webcam ever stopped working allovasudden? You probably did some wee bit of Windows Update or Microsoft Update only to realize later that your webcam is no longer responding…its blue light is no longer glowing and you are unable to use it from within any applications such as Quick Play or Instant Messengers.
If yes, you’re in the same boat as me. At least I was in the same boat until today. The Webcam had gone kaput and no longer was recognized from within the messengers I used. A wee bit of troubleshooting (and some insightful advise from Mr. MK of HP Support) later, I nailed down the culprit.
What happened was that during a routine update, the driver was replaced by a newer one which somehow caused the device to get slotted as an USB Serial Bus device rather than a webcam. Uninstalling the driver and re-installing the correct one resolved the problem and voila! my friends can now see me as I chat with them (not that its any added incentive!). The detailed troubleshooting procedure’s outlined after the jump…
