Webcam issue: usbvideo.sys ?

I am running Win 7 RC release. I cannot get any webcams (have tried 3 ) to work properly. In each case the webcam is recognized, latest drivers installed, and all looks well in device manager. In any app using the webcam (live messenger, skype, yahoo messenger etc.) I get the "cannot connect to webcam, already in use" type of message.

I have tried everything -bios upgrade, different cams, different driver versions etc. I am 100% certain that this in an OS issue.

What I do see is that the usbvideo.sys system driver is not running (listed as stopped) - on all my other systems (XP and Vista) it is listed as running. Start mode is set as manual. I am pretty certain this is the issue. What do I need to do to fix this? Is there a way to reinstall usbvideo from the install cd or from a MS download?

Thanks in advance.

Teppo said:

I am running Win 7 RC release. I cannot get any webcams (have tried 3 ) to work properly. In each case the webcam is recognized, latest drivers installed, and all looks well in device manager. In any app using the webcam (live messenger, skype, yahoo messenger etc.) I get the "cannot connect to webcam, already in use" type of message.

I have tried everything -bios upgrade, different cams, different driver versions etc. I am 100% certain that this in an OS issue.

What I do see is that the usbvideo.sys system driver is not running (listed as stopped) - on all my other systems (XP and Vista) it is listed as running. Start mode is set as manual. I am pretty certain this is the issue. What do I need to do to fix this? Is there a way to reinstall usbvideo from the install cd or from a MS download?

Thanks in advance.

Try setting it to AUTOMATIC. See if that helps. If you set it to MANUAL, some programs don't have specific functions to call the service to start up. It's a long shot but give it a try and see if that works. Of course restart the computer after changing to make sure the effect sticks.

jelyman said:

Teppo said:

I am running Win 7 RC release. I cannot get any webcams (have tried 3 ) to work properly. In each case the webcam is recognized, latest drivers installed, and all looks well in device manager. In any app using the webcam (live messenger, skype, yahoo messenger etc.) I get the "cannot connect to webcam, already in use" type of message.

I have tried everything -bios upgrade, different cams, different driver versions etc. I am 100% certain that this in an OS issue.

What I do see is that the usbvideo.sys system driver is not running (listed as stopped) - on all my other systems (XP and Vista) it is listed as running. Start mode is set as manual. I am pretty certain this is the issue. What do I need to do to fix this? Is there a way to reinstall usbvideo from the install cd or from a MS download?

Thanks in advance.

Try setting it to AUTOMATIC. See if that helps. If you set it to MANUAL, some programs don't have specific functions to call the service to start up. It's a long shot but give it a try and see if that works. Of course restart the computer after changing to make sure the effect sticks.

I am not sure how to set it to "automatic" or how to even manually start it. If it were a service it would be simple, but this is listed in the "System Information" app as a "system driver." I thought maybe there was a service that controls this, but I have looked through each one and do not see one that would appear to control this.

Teppo said:

jelyman said:

Teppo said:

I am running Win 7 RC release. I cannot get any webcams (have tried 3 ) to work properly. In each case the webcam is recognized, latest drivers installed, and all looks well in device manager. In any app using the webcam (live messenger, skype, yahoo messenger etc.) I get the "cannot connect to webcam, already in use" type of message.

I have tried everything -bios upgrade, different cams, different driver versions etc. I am 100% certain that this in an OS issue.

What I do see is that the usbvideo.sys system driver is not running (listed as stopped) - on all my other systems (XP and Vista) it is listed as running. Start mode is set as manual. I am pretty certain this is the issue. What do I need to do to fix this? Is there a way to reinstall usbvideo from the install cd or from a MS download?

Thanks in advance.

Try setting it to AUTOMATIC. See if that helps. If you set it to MANUAL, some programs don't have specific functions to call the service to start up. It's a long shot but give it a try and see if that works. Of course restart the computer after changing to make sure the effect sticks.

I am not sure how to set it to "automatic" or how to even manually start it. If it were a service it would be simple, but this is listed in the "System Information" app as a "system driver." I thought maybe there was a service that controls this, but I have looked through each one and do not see one that would appear to control this.

Sorry about that, I was thinking for whatever reason it was service. My bad!

Do you have a built-in webcam? If so try disabling that in the Device Manager and restarting the computer.

jelyman said:

Teppo said:

jelyman said:

Try setting it to AUTOMATIC. See if that helps. If you set it to MANUAL, some programs don't have specific functions to call the service to start up. It's a long shot but give it a try and see if that works. Of course restart the computer after changing to make sure the effect sticks.

I am not sure how to set it to "automatic" or how to even manually start it. If it were a service it would be simple, but this is listed in the "System Information" app as a "system driver." I thought maybe there was a service that controls this, but I have looked through each one and do not see one that would appear to control this.

Sorry about that, I was thinking for whatever reason it was service. My bad!

Do you have a built-in webcam? If so try disabling that in the Device Manager and restarting the computer.

No built in cams - have tried three different cams all of which work on other systems.

I am almost certain the is an issue with usbvideo.sys....something is not right with it...not sure how to fix though.

jelyman said:

Try running sfc /scannow and see if it comes up with any issues.

No issues reported from sfc /sannow

Tews said:

This is a known compatibility problem with Windows 7 ... You might try installing the cam in windows xp mode...

source

There is no real install - it just uses usbvideo.sys as its driver. Not sure how I could implement compatability mode.