XPS702 17" webcam suddenly stopped working

My fast access facial recognition still worked when I turned on the computer after a restart so the webcam certainly isn't 'dead'. That being said, any program I try to use is telling me I have another program using the webcam and that it cannot use it until it is closed. I haven't installed anything new and it was working fine a few days ago. I scanned the processes running and nothing made sense.

I followed the below steps and it said no video programs were running.
How to Find Program That Has Cam Opened - Skype Support Network
Find -> Find Handle or Dll..

A window will open, please enter:

#vid

Then click the search button.

I did this and got no results. What do I do? Why can't skype or any of my cam software locate the webcam? What could be interfering and what can I do??

Thanks for any suggestions!

 

Hi insidemanpoker,

Please try these steps:

Open Device Manager and uninstall the Webcam under Imaging Devices and restart the system. Check if that resolves the issue.

Most likely the issue could be caused by the Facial recognition software. Hence disable facial recognition and try to use the webcam. (click on Start - All Programs > FastAccess facial recognition > Configure Fastaccess" and simply select "Disabled" for your security mode).

Some applications require the user to manually select their desired video device. In this case the you should select FA Virtual Camera from the list of available devices in the video application’s configuration interface. This will allow you to use the webcam in both applications simultaneously.

Uninstall the Fast Access application from Programs and Features and reinstall it from My Dell Downloads application or with the software CD. If My Dell Downloads is not installed, kindly install it using this link: https://smartsource.dell.com/Web/Welcome.aspx?ReturnUrl=/web/main.aspx

Kindly reply with the results.

Thanks & Regards
Dell_Satya_P

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Thanks a lot for the reply Satya, but unfortunately, no luck. I can give some more information that I have discovered that makes the problem seem really strange to me. My log in user is NOT an admin account for security reasons. This is not new and I have been doing this for over a year and having no issues with my webcam in my user account. Now, however, when I log off my account and log into the admin account and open Manycam, there I am showing in the webcam. When I log off and back into my normal user account and open Manycam, back to a black screen telling me the video is already in use.

I disabled facial recognition and uninstalled the webcam driver (did not remove the software since you did not say to do this) from the admin account, restarted and again have the same issue. I can only see myself in Manycam when logged in to the admin account but for whatever reason it isn't working on my user account. Any ideas?

 

Can anyone shine a light on this problem? I have searched everywhere

 

Hi insidemanpoker,

Thank you for the reply. Kindly let me know if the other User Accounts use Facial recognition or passwords to log in. If the webcam is working in Admin account it cannot be a hardware issue.

Create a new User account and check if we can replicate the issue there. If that does not help us isolate the cause, please perform these steps:

Uninstall all Facial recognition software/application. Uninstall Dell Webcam Central. Uninstall Skype or any other program that might be using the webcam. (Remove all these programs from the Programs and Features). Restart the system.

Install the Dell Webcam Central first. Restart the system and check if its working. Then install Facial Recognition and then install Skype.

Please make sure you uninstall/re-install all these applications using the Admin account. You can install Dell Webcam Central and Facial Recognition using the My Dell Downloads.

Kindly reply with the results.