Is it possible to add a camera to Win7 ?

[Arcadian]

Whilst I've been updating and fixing a few faults with Win 7 recently I suddenly discovered surprisingly it had no camera. I'd bought it in 2013 second hand from my computer guru as a back up to my old XP just in case of any problems, and when I finally got rid of XP I used Win 7 all the time but never needed Skype.

Then when I bought Win 10 last year I suddenly needed to use a webcam for the first time but due to Skype being impossible to follow went for "appear-in" which is free and as simple as ABC compared to understanding Skype !

However it was in the course of updating Win 7 as a permanent back-up that I found there was no camera, which might have been because my computer guy said originally he'd had to replace the lid as it had been dropped and become twisted. I'd then heard only recently that if I did a complete reinstall of Win 7 it would include a camera as well but I'm very reluctant in case I lose or corrupt everything even though all my files are kept safely on a CD.

Is there any much simpler way that wouldn't be so drastic ?

Thanks

 

[strollin]

A camera is a piece of hardware so would not be part of an OS such as Win 7 or Win 10.

I'm going to guess that what you are really asking is whether Win 7 includes camera software to operate a camera. To my knowledge, other than Skype, neither Win 7 nor Win 10 come with camera software. A camera is optional hardware so it's left up to the manufacturer of the computer to include software to operate it if the computer system comes with one.

If your system does not have a camera, it's pretty simple to buy a USB camera to use with your system. Such a camera will come with software that will allow you to operate it.

If your system already has a camera, then you could download generic "web cam" software that should be able to operate it. In my experience, generic camera software works "Ok" but your camera may have special features that won't be accessible using generic software.

For an existing camera, it would be best to go to the website of the mfr of the camera to find the software to operate it or at least the website of the mfr of the computer since it should have the software available to operate optional hardware included with their computer.

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks yes it does have a camera, apologies for not knowing should have added the word software. It's a Win 7 Home premium 64bit SPI. AMD V160 processor....

Tried a search and found a lot about drivers and catalysts etc. that's way over my head....

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=a...x-b&gfe_rd=cr&dcr=0&ei=3F8IWrC6N-6sgAbfgreAAw

 

[Mellon Head]

I looked up your laptop, and can find no camera drivers at the HP/Compaq site. That is directly from the manufacturer. Are you sure you have a camera built into it? Some models of your laptop apparently do not.

And is that the correct laptop listed in your specs?

 

[Anak]

We need the suffix code of your cq56. Since I didn't have the three number/letter code I couldn't use this: http://Product search results.hp.com/Lookup? It should be like CQ56-103SG.

I would believe if your cq has had a camera there should be settings/drivers/ etc... for it. Would this help? HP VGA Notebook Webcam

 

[Wandering one]

Since you state that the lid was replaced, best to look and make sure that a camera is pysicaly there.
When lid is open, check the top center area just above the actual screen. Camera will show as a very small
lens, probably less than 1/8 inch round or square.
Art.

 

[Arcadian]

Since you state that the lid was replaced, best to look and make sure that a camera is pysicaly there.
When lid is open, check the top center area just above the actual screen. Camera will show as a very small
lens, probably less than 1/8 inch round or square.
Art.

Been out all day sorry....

Yes there's a tiny circle inside a larger one just above the actual screen....

 

[Arcadian]

We need the suffix code of your cq56. Since I didn't have the three number/letter code I couldn't use this: http://Product search results.hp.com/Lookup? It should be like CQ56-103SG.

I would believe if your cq has had a camera there should be settings/drivers/ etc... for it. Would this help? HP VGA Notebook Webcam

There's an entry that says CQ56-HP but no mention of CQ56 anywhere else.....

Thanks

 

[Arcadian]

I looked up your laptop, and can find no camera drivers at the HP/Compaq site. That is directly from the manufacturer. Are you sure you have a camera built into it? Some models of your laptop apparently do not.

And is that the correct laptop listed in your specs?

I got everything from the System page under System & Security....

 

[Megahertz07]

Open device manager and look for Image Devices. It can be that it hasn't been recognized. Do you have any yellow alerts or unknown devices?

 

[RoasterMen]

Hi

yeah also try to check if the camera is detected like what Megahertz said. Also, you can download amcap to check if the webcam is really working.

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks.

It says HP webcam 101 and device is up to date. Windows has determined the driver software is up to date. HP IR camera driver the best software is already installed.

 

[Arcadian]

Downloaded amcap then it said a video capture was needed so downloaded NCH which was free, however nothing's happening ?

 

[Megahertz07]

It seems that your camera is installed with all drivers.
Do you have Skype installed? If you do, open Skype window - Options tab - Video settings.

If you want a free program to manage the camera use this light one
http://www.free2x.com/webcam-recorder/webcamrecordersetup.exe

 

[Arcadian]

I don't use any Skype more since Microsoft took it over as it's miles too complicated nowadays, but have tried appear-in which is simplicity itself on Win 10 however it's saying that it can't detect a camera....

 

[Anak]

Go over this troubleshooter faqs, see if anything fits.

 

[Arcadian]

Good idea eventually found "permissions" and switched all to Allow. Went back into my "Room" and saw "Camera no available device".

Weird....

 

[Anak]

That indicates the problem lies between the camera and the operating system (OS). Have you tried uninstalling the camera software?

Use this, Option Two: https://Device - Uninstall in Windows | www.eightforums.com/tutorials

When finished reboot your machine and windows should reinstall on start-up, you should see a dialog pop-up saying it found a camera device and do you want to install? tap on OK or yes to finish the install.

 

[Arcadian]

Thanks. Uninstalled camera, rebooted and re-installed all ok, but no device shown in "appear-in" notice as before. No dialog pop-up either....

 

[Anak]

try reinstalling appear-in, with the reinstall of the camera the connection with appear-in was broken.