Low light compensation anyone?

You have to talk to Sony, not Microsoft. Only Sony knows how there system works. Windows can only do what the drivers let it do, if the drivers don't let it do anything then Windows cannot do what you want it to do. Driver issue, not a Windows issue.

Hi Ollaz,

Some thoughts:
I can see by the thread that you have tried running the program in Compatibility Mode. Have you also run it as an administrator (by right clicking and selecting this)?

What you may find that you have to remove the program and ensure that you run the installation program in compatibility mode and by right clicking 'Run as Administrator' as well.

Next is permissions, cells can be be greyed-out because they are unavailable, so lets rule out permissions. I've seen incorrect permissions in both the program folder and registry after legacy programs were installed, so...
- Create a restore point (a good safety measure).
- Navigate to the program folder (likely to be found in program files) and right click on it. On the security tab verify that permissions for your user are present, correct and are applied to all child entries. Also ensure that there are no denial entries that may cause a problem. If you need more help here, I'm happy to elaborate.
- Repeat this on any other folders that you find that are related to the running of the program.
- Open REGEDIT from the RUN command. Use CTRL-F to search for entries related to your program and right click and select permissions. Repeat the above steps for any/all entries that you can find.
- Reboot when done

Also take a look at the camera via the windows control panel. Once found, you should be able to right click on it and select properties and edit a few basic features. This might help. Sorry for the vague directions on this one, i'm travelling and not in front of a Win7 PC at the moment and it might be a little different.

Lastly, check the manufacturers (Sony) website for updated program software, drivers etc.

Good luck

Sorry, but it is not a Windows issue. This is a driver issue, and it is the responsibility of the hardware manufacturer to update their drivers so that the device works correctly in W7. Of course, the reason why they may not want to do this is that they don't get any revenue from it. They would rather sell you another webcam instead.

You also stated that under XP the options worked. This is another clue to the problem. Because of the different system architecture between XP and W7, drivers need to be re-written in order to accommodate this difference.

You still have to go to the company that makes your web cam.
Only they can fix your problem.

Although the drivers may be included in W7, Microsoft didn't write them. They were supplied by the hardware vendor, and they determine the level of support that these drivers give. In many cases, the drivers that they supply are just enough so that the device works at its basic level. For example, my old printer/scanner was supported on Vista as a basic model, but the special functions (like scan by pressing the button on the printer) wasn't. Missing features can only be rectified by downloading an updated driver from the hardware manufacturer, if they have developed one. Of course, like I stated in my previous post, they may not want to do that as they get no revenue that way and would, instead, prefer it for you to buy a new webcam.

Ollaz said:

"Microsoft didn't write them."
They actually did. It's listed as a "USB Video Device" and when I look at the manufacturer, it says "Microsoft".

USB Video Device is a generic device driver which only covers the bare minimum basic functionality.