How to turn on the webcam on a laptop

Good day.

Every modern laptop is equipped with a webcam (after all, Internet calls are a thing every day more and more popular), but it does not work on every laptop.

In fact, the webcam in the laptop is always connected to power (regardless of whether you are using it or not). Another thing is that in most cases the camera is not active. that is, it does not take pictures. And this is partly correct, why the camera should 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 and simple it is to turn on 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, you just need to launch some application that uses it. Very often, such an application turns out to be Skype (the program is famous for the fact that it allows you to make calls over the Internet, and with a webcam you can generally use video calls) or QIP (originally the program allowed you to exchange text messages, but now you can talk with video and even send files.).

To use the webcam in the program, just open the settings and go to the “Video and Sound” tab (see Fig. 1). At the bottom right, a video from the webcam should appear (and on the camera itself, as a rule, the LED lights up).

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

Setting up and testing 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.).

By the way, one important point! Some laptop models allow you to use the camera with just a couple of keys. Most often, these are the keys: FnEsc and FnV (when this function is supported, usually a webcam icon is drawn on the key).

What to do if there is no webcam image

It also happens that not a single program shows anything from the webcam. Most often this is due to the lack of drivers (less often with the breakdown of the webcam itself).

I recommend that you first go to the Windows Control Panel, open the Hardware and Sound tab. and then “Device Manager” (see Fig. 3).

Next, in the device manager, find the “Imaging Devices” tab (or something similar, the name depends on your version of Windows). Pay attention to the line with the camera:

If an exclamation mark is lit in the Device Manager opposite your webcam, then 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).

In case of a problem, I recommend downloading the driver from the official website, or using programs for auto-updating thereof. Links below.

Automatic driver update software: https://pcpro100.info/obnovleniya-drayverov/

Privacy settings in Windows 10

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

Windows 10 has settings that change the privacy mode (which might block the webcam). If you use this OS and you do not have a picture from the camera, I recommend checking this option.

First open the START menu. then the “Parameters” tab (see fig. 6).

improve webcam quality in laptop camera or external webcam. uoxo tech

Next, you need to open the “Confidentiality” section. 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 all “unnecessary” that wants to access the webcam.

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

That’s all for me, successful setup and work

How to set up and enable WEB-camera on Acer laptop?

As a rule, if the device drivers are installed correctly, then the question “how to turn on the WEB-camera on an acer laptop” is not worth it. But if the user is not familiar with the operation of the camera or it does not turn on immediately, then you need to read the instructions.

Study of the location and operation of the WEB-camera. Before you start turning on and configuring the WEB-camera, you need to decide on its location on the laptop. As a rule, the WEB-camera is located above the screen in the middle or slightly shifted to the right. Also, in many Acer models, there is an LED next to the built-in camera, which signals the state of the WEB-camera. When the LED is off, it indicates that the camera is disabled. During the operation and shooting of the camera, the LED is constantly on. If the user is not familiar with the operation of the WEB-camera, then you can read the corresponding section in detail in the instructions that should be attached to the laptop. If the laptop was in use and the instructions were not preserved, you can get information on the manufacturer’s website.

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Checking the installed WEB-camera drivers. Before turning on the WEB-camera in the laptop, you can additionally make sure that the drivers necessary for the operation are installed. To do this, go through the “Start” to the “Control Panel”. Next, you need to select the “Hardware and Sound” section. In the section, a window opens in which you need to select “Device Manager”. Among the installed devices, you need to find the “Imaging Devices” tab, expand it and make sure that there is a sub-branch “Gmix USB Webcam”. By right-clicking on the WEB-camera icon, open the “Properties” tab. Then open the “Driver” tab and make sure that there are installed drivers and their status. Also, by clicking the right mouse button on the “Gmix USB Webcam”, you can connect and disconnect the WEB-camera at the request of the user.

Installing drivers if they are missing. If “Gmix USB Webcam” is missing on the “Imaging Devices” tab, or the list of “Disable / Enable”, “Uninstall”, “Update drivers” and others does not open when you right-click the mouse, then you need to install the drivers before how to enable WEB-camera on acer laptop. To download drivers, you need to go to the manufacturer’s website www. acer. ru, where to find the “Support” tab and select the “Laptop” category in it and select the model of your laptop. In the list that opens, you need to select and download the driver, the name of which mentions “Camera”. After downloading and saving the files, you need to install the program. After the installation is complete, you need to check for drivers and press the Fn V key combination, which will activate the camera.

Enabling the WEB-camera through the device manager and in other ways. In addition to quickly turning on the webcam using the Fn V keyboard shortcut, which is typical for Acer notebooks, you can turn on the camera through Device Manager. The path to the device manager was described above (ie Start. Control Panel. Hardware and Sound. Device Manager). Further Imaging devices. Gmix USB Webcam. right mouse button. enable (or enable). On the same tab, you can uninstall WEB-camera programs, update drivers, update hardware configurations and view properties. It is also worth mentioning how to turn on the camera in acer laptop using the preinstalled “Acer Crystal Eye Webcam” software. The program has a special enable / disable tab, which is immediately visible at startup.

Setting up a WEB-camera. After successfully turning on the camera on the acer laptop, you need to make a preliminary configuration that will meet the wishes of the user. This can be done using the “Acer Crystal Eye Webcam” tabs. They allow you to adjust the shooting contrast, brightness, picture size and much more. You can go to the program via the Start path. All programs. Acer Crystal Eye Webcam. It is best to create an icon on the desktop so that the program is quickly accessible. You can also configure the built-in WEB-camera through the device manager. In the same way as enabling or disabling, by the same path you can go to the Properties tab of the WEB-camera. This tab allows you to make settings if Acer Crystal Eye Webcam is not installed.

Test shooting with a WEB-camera. After setting up the camera on the acer laptop successfully and correctly, you need to take a test shot. In this case, the help of the interlocutor in Skype or Icq programs may come in handy. To do this, you need to call someone from your acquaintances and connect the function, thanks to which the user can see not only the interlocutor, but also himself on an additional mini-screen on the website page. If this function is not connected, then you can ask the interlocutor to describe the quality of the picture that the WEB-camera produces. You can also use the Acer Crystal Eye Webcam software to check the image, or install some third-party WEB camera software.

Installing third-party webcam software. For Acer notebooks, as well as for a large selection of other similar personal computer equipment, computer program developers have created numerous additional applications. One of them is “ManyCam”, which allows you to control your WEB-camera not through the control panel, but directly through the interface of this program. Thanks to “ManyCam”, the laptop begins to view and work with the built-in camera as a separate device, which allows for faster customization and, as a result, getting better results more quickly. In addition to ManyCam, there are a number of similar programs. Among them. “Active WebCam”, “Webcam Plus” and “Willing Webcam” and many others.

Turning on the webcam

The webcam can be disabled by default. It must be activated using the function keys located on the keyboard, or through the “Device Manager” in the operating system. Both of these options are described by our other author in the article below. Follow the guide given there and then proceed to the next step.

Setting up the software

In many laptop models, a special program is included with the camera driver to work with it. Most often it is YouCam from CyberLink. Let’s take a look at the process of installing and configuring it:

• Wait for the installer to start after installing the drivers or open it yourself.
• Select the location on your computer where the application installation files will be downloaded, if required.

Select the appropriate YouCam language, location to save the files and click on “Next”.

Accept the terms of the license agreement.

During installation, do not turn off the Installation Wizard window and do not restart your computer.

Start the software by clicking on the corresponding button.

During the first opening, immediately go to the setup mode by clicking on the gear icon.

Make sure the correct image transfer device is selected, the screen resolution is at the optimum, and sound is being recorded from an active microphone. Adjust the zoom as needed and turn on automatic face detection.

Now you can start working with YouCam, take pictures, record videos or apply effects.

If this software did not come with the driver, download it from the official site when needed, or use any other similar program. You will find a list of representatives of such software in our separate article at the link below.

In addition, a microphone may be required to record video and further work with the webcam. For instructions on how to enable and configure it, see our other materials below.

Downloading and installing drivers

Start by downloading and installing the appropriate drivers, as the camera will not function correctly without this software. The best option to search would be the support page on the manufacturer’s official website, since the latest and most relevant files are always there, but there are other search and installation methods. You can familiarize yourself with them on the example of a laptop from ASUS in our other material at the following link.

Setting up a webcam on a laptop with Windows 7

Almost every modern laptop is equipped with a webcam. In most cases, it is built into the lid above the screen, and it is controlled using the function keys. Today we want to pay attention to setting up this equipment on laptops running the Windows 7 operating system.

Setting up a webcam on a laptop with Windows 7

Before you start editing the parameters, you need to take care of installing the drivers and turning on the camera itself. We have divided the entire procedure into stages so that you do not get confused in the sequence of actions. Let’s start with the first step.

Skype camera setup

This concludes our article. Today we tried to tell as much as possible about the procedure for configuring a webcam on a laptop in Windows 7. We hope that the provided step-by-step guide helped you easily cope with the task and you have no more questions on this topic.