Crystal eye webcam

There are so many challenges getting these built-in laptop webcams working. Here's some additional information for getting the HP Pavilion laptop camera working in Vista.

Using HP webcam in Quickplay software:
1. Click on Start button, select All programs and click on Quickplay.
2. Within the Quickplay application, click the Video icon (Icon resembles, camera, music, and film).
3. Double click on "HP Web cam" or “USB Video device” in the Source column.
4. Now you could see your self on the screen.
Using HP webcam on Muvee Autoprocucer software:
1. Click on start, Select all programs and click on Muvee Autoproducer.
2. It will open Muvee Auto Producer. (Click on Trial version if it prompts.)
3. Click on Tools the top and select the Get Video from Camcorder.
4. You would see your self on the screen.

If the webcam does not show the picture you need to perform the below steps. If the webcam works, you need not to perform the below steps. Please ignore the below steps. However, I personally recommend you to save this email and if any time the webcam does not work or if it shows blank screen please perform the below steps.
Before we trouble shoot this issue let me explain the reason for this issue, HP has released new driver for webcam and the driver update process can’t be done automatically and as long as the old driver exists the webcam does not work, To resolve this issue First we need to uninstall the existing webcam from device manager. Then restart the notebook and install the latest driver to resolve this issue
Step 2: Steps to Uninstall the Webcam drivers from the device manager.
1. Click on start and click on Control panel.
2. Click on "the Classic View" on the top left side of the control panel.
3. Double click on the "Device Manager" icon in the list.
4. Click on + next to the Imaging devices. Now you would see one HP Pavilion webcam or more then one web cam listings under the Imaging devices.
4. Right click on each HP Pavilion web cam and click on uninstall. And confirm un installation if it prompts. (Click on Yes.)
5. Now the Imaging devices option should not appear on the device manager.
Note: If the HP pavilion webcam is not listed or Imaging device is not listed, in device manager you need to reset the Bios to enable the webcam. Once you reset the Bios the webcam will listed in device manager. Here are the steps to reset the Bios.
1. Restart the notebook.
2. Tap the F10 key as soon as the HP logo appears.
3. Using the arrow keys, navigate to Exit Menu, select "Load Setup Defaults" and select "Exit Saving Changes"
Step 3: Restart the notebook.
Step 4: Click on the below link and then click on Save button of the download window. Click on brows and then click on desktop then click on Save.
*we need to download the file to the desktop.
ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp34501-35000/sp34746.exe
Step 5: Installing downloaded web cam driver (sp34746).
1. Double click on the downloaded file (sp34746) and follow the on screen instructions to install the file.
Step 6: Once the installation prompts you that the installation has been successfully completed. Now you need to restart the notebook.
Now check the webcam input in Quickplay software using the steps provided on the step no. 1. The webcam should work, if the webcam does not work please verify the below steps.
Step 7: Enable the Imaging services on the notebook.
1. Tap Window key(flag key on the keyboard) and R key on the keyboard, at once.
2. You would see the Run window on the screen.
3. Type SERVICES.MSC and hit enter.
4. You would see the services window on the screen.
5. Double click the "Windows Image Acquisition (WIA)" service, and under the startup type select Automatic.
6. Click on "Start" button if it is stopped under Service status
7. Click on Apply and Ok.

Step 8: Now check the webcam in quickplay or Muvee software. verify the step 1 to know about how to use the webcam in quickplay or muvee.
If the still issue persists, Please check webcam name in device manager. If you see USB 2 Video device under the Imaging devices the webcam works properly (it means latest drivers have been loaded successfully). If you see the HP Pavilion webcam under the imaging devices, it means still the notebook is using old webcam drivers and you need to repeat the steps from Step 2:
Follow theses steps should help ya get back on line with your cam .

Good Luck, Have a great Sunday and a safe one.

if you are running vista and you have pictures in you picture folder, the web cam will not work. just remove the pictures and it will work fine. Its a strange quirk but fixable.

Had the same problem over here. I have an Acer Aspire 5720ZG running on Vista 32. I repaired my windows vista home premium with the installation disk. No loss of data and the crystal eye webcam is once again running smoooooooothly. :)

Ed, Norway

great post by country, here is how i fixed mine.

I have had the same problem, after you un-install and re-install the driver, the problem will happen again. Here is the problem, your webcam can only use one program at a time, so alot of people say it worked once then never again, my guess is that you perhaps installed something like MSN, or yahoo messenger. While you may not be actively using these programs, if they load when you boot, they will associate themselves with your camera. The only way I was able to get my camera to work consistently was to go into msconfig and stop all programs that use the webcam from loading at start. And simply load them mabually when i need them.Beware messing around in msconfig can mess up your laptop. to access msconfig simply type it in the run command box at startup menu.

Only change items in the startup tab, things like msn, yahoo messenger, and for hp owners, quick play. you stop them by unselecting the check box