Laptop WebCam Driver Keeps Re-Installing!

technomann · 28 Jan 2019

I have disabled/uninstalled the camera on my laptop, but every time I boot up the machine Windows re-installs the webcam driver. Most annoying! Is there any way to permanently un-install the driver for the built-in laptop camera? I never use it and I don't want anyone taking remote control over it.

Thanks for any and all advice!

Paul Black · 28 Jan 2019

Hi technomann,

technomann said:

I have disabled/uninstalled the camera on my laptop.

Did you disable the camera in Device Manager [Imaging Devices] or by some other method?

Have you checked if it is something getting loaded at startup [Start => msconfig => Startup tab] that is triggering the drivers to be re-installed?

technomann · 28 Jan 2019

Paul Black said:

Hi technomann,

Did you disable the camera in Device Manager [Imaging Devices] or by some other method?

Have you checked if it is something getting loaded at startup [Start => msconfig => Startup tab] that is triggering the drivers to be re-installed?

Yes I used Device Manager to un-install the webcam driver. What else would I use?

I wouldn't know what to look for in msconfig that would keep re-installing the webcam driver. I don't have any programs installed that use the webcam...

Paul Black · 28 Jan 2019

Hi technomann,

technomann said:

Yes I used Device Manager to un-install the webcam driver. What else would I use?

Have you looked in Programs and Features?

townsbg · 29 Jan 2019

Windows will reinstall drivers when it senses new hardware or after a reboot. If you don't want it functional you should disable it in device manager. I've done that on my computer. It can't be used when disabled.

file3456 · 29 Jan 2019

technomann said:

Yes I used Device Manager to un-install the webcam driver. What else would I use?

I wouldn't know what to look for in msconfig that would keep re-installing the webcam driver. I don't have any programs installed that use the webcam...

He didn't say uninstall, but disable. If you right click the camera in Device Manager you can disable it. That should make it so that Windows will not reinstall the driver again. Simply uninstalling the driver will have Windows reinstall it automatically.

Try to disable it rather than uninstall the driver and see if that helps. If not we can move on to some other suggestions.

torchwood · 29 Jan 2019

If this is the Asus comp from your previous threads

please note
if you are using thier, Asus system updater, it will AUTOMATICALLY download and reinstall the drivers.

Roy

technomann · 31 Jan 2019

F22 Simpilot said:

He didn't say uninstall, but disable. If you right click the camera in Device Manager you can disable it. That should make it so that Windows will not reinstall the driver again. Simply uninstalling the driver will have Windows reinstall it automatically.

Try to disable it rather than uninstall the driver and see if that helps. If not we can move on to some other suggestions.

It doesn't matter if I disable or uninstall the driver--WIndows always enables it or re-installs it. Most annoying! How do I PERMANENTLY disable or uninstall the webcam?

file3456 · 01 Feb 2019

If you type in devices in search, find the camera, right click it and disable. See if that works.

townsbg · 02 Feb 2019

Windows shouldn't be enabling your webcam unless you have related software that is activating it. Try finding that software and either make sure it isn't running on startup, change the settings in the app, or uninstall it.