Envy 14 webcam problems

I've owned the Envy 14 for around 5-6 months now and I never got around to asking this about the webcam. The first Envy I got had a good webcam that could auto adjust to different types of lighting, however I had to RMA that one because of the horrible whine that I'm sure many of you know about. The second Envy I received had a webcam that was just horrible in every aspect. Envy shipped it with a purplish tint in the webcam which I had to fix through the webcam settings and to my dismay I learned that the webcam doesn't even auto adjust to different light settings. I'm sure this is just a software problem, however I never got around to fixing this and have always been adjusting the settings manually to what I perceive to be a good image for that light situation which gets kind of annoying at times because I must pause a call in order to open up the webcam settings and see what settings look best in that lighting situation. Has anyone come across this problem and if you have, have you found a way of fixing this? I'm guessing it is some sort of driver problem, and HP being the way they are has no idea how to fix this. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

Your guess is correct. I had the same problem and it really is a simple fix.

• Download the Webcam Drivers Here for Vista x86/x64, or Here for Win7 x86/x64.

• Then Use Revo Uninstaller (Its a 30-day trial, but I do recommend buying it, professional or consumer version, it is a gem of a program) to remove the HP Webcam Drivers, and use the Advanced Scanning setting to make sure it gets all the leftover stuff.

• Then re-install the drivers.

• Restart Your computer, and have fun with the webcam!

 

Thank you for the fix! It amazes me that my webcam could have been doing all this, and I haven't even known.

 

Nicely done. Added link to this thread to first post of Owner's lounge.

 

I can't even uninstall my Envy is so screwed up.
Any ideas?
Also removing items using device manager hangs device manager...I can not scan for new/changed hardware nor remove hardware.

Additionally (unreleated) there's a shut down problem (won't cleanly shut down, BSOD error ultimately, after all services or most are stopped so no real harm but annoying). Then when I unplug my mouse all the USB ports stop and won't recognize anything else being plugged in. Then again, I also have a non working HP Webcam.

Awesome.
The thing is, it's all probably due to Windows. I highly doubt it's a hardware issue. I should try a Live CD, I don't want to partition my drive. Of course through virtualization, if the host is having driver issues then the guest will too...So that's not a good test.

Seriously frustrated but I love the speed of the Envy.
Suggestions? Short of a reformat...

 

You could do what is called an repair upgrade install.

You will need win7 media.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/win...-7-download-links-just-like-vista-before.html

Here's a guide on how to do it: Repair Install - Windows 7 Forums

 

-EDIT sorry this is duplicate. i didn't realize it was the same forum.

Wouldn't you know it, my webcam doesn't work. Two months after I get the computer almost and I never checked during that time. Just never had the need, except for skype the other day.

Drivers are installed for it but Skype nor HP's software recognize it. I tried to uninstall it to reinstall drivers, but it couldn't uninstall. In fact the uninstall wizard is just hanging out in the task bar stuck. I figured it may have something to do with the problems I get when restarting or turning off my computer (BSOD) which I'm now seeing people link to video card drivers (which was one of the first updates I ran when I got my computer) so I'm hoping that's the issue and I can try disabling the driver signing as suggested in the other thread...Crossing my fingers maybe magically that solves everything.

Sigh- I miss Linux. Anyway...does anyone have any ideas? Has anyone else had this problem with their Envy? I'm hoping to avoid a reformat now that I've been using the computer for a few months here and have a ton of software installed. It just takes so much time to backup and restore.


-EDIT sorry this is duplicate. i didn't realize it was the same forum.

 

From another post I saw to disable the driver signature in the advanced boot options. That solved my restart/shutdown problem (which was a BSOD after a very long wait). I still can't do anything in the device manager without it fading to back with a slight white cast as in "I'm screwed, please end my task." Just leaving it there maybe it'll come back, who knows.

Anyway, I'm gonna try this repair after I finish the long download. I hope I don't have to reformat. It's a pain. Though I'm wondering if any of these issues are related. They are all driver issues.

 

A repair install fixes most problems while leaving most of your setting and all of your folders and programs intact. A few programs like iTunes would need to be reinstalled.

If it doesn't work, it could mean a hardware issue.

 

I never thought those Windows repair things ever actually worked. Maybe Windows 7 is better. Still trying to give it a fair shake and I really would like to use it and not have to go back to Linux full time. I'd rather leave that for VM and justify the i7 CPU trade off for battery life =) so come on lucky Windows....

 

I used on 2 occasions with win7 when I was messing around with unsigned drivers. Worked like a charm. Not saying that it is guaranteed to fix your issue. But it usually does.

 

Yup. That was about the worst thing I could've done. I now can't re-activate my windows 7 (even though I backed up the key, which I'm happy I did because on no piece of paper or the bottom of my laptop was the key, thanks HP). I have some window that's trying to repair the .Net framework that won't stop. Skype won't stay open it crashes immediately. Awesome. Windows 7 is the worst operating system since ME I swear. Who uses this crap? Who would even think this is any good? It's like being institutionalized. It's like telling a criminal that's been in jail for 50 years that there's a world outside that's better. . I give up.

edit- OH right AND windows update won't install the updates that are pending. Sweet!

 

don't suppose there's any way to undo what i just did is there?
-- eh just did a clean install. for the best anyway. also yes i'm a dope, the product key is under the battery. but come on, that's weird.

2.0 Thank you for your help by the way. Also thank you for that big massive original post with all the handy links for things. It absolutely helped me track down drivers, etc. I backed them up from SwSetup but I didn't end up using most of them. Whatever HP had was wrong, so I figured why use the same wrong drivers again? Fresh 11.1 driver from ATI worked perfectly. My computer now shuts down w/o a blue screen of death. The USB works again after unplugging devices. The SD card slot works. Off to test the issue at hand next - the webcam. Though the device manager sees it and has the driver and the device manager no longer crashes when scanning for new hardware, etc. ...And...getting back to this original thread here - the webcam WORKS!

Man HP was dropping the ball. I think the very first thing anyone should do with an HP Envy is perform a clean Windows 7 install. I'd be much happier to not have to copy back 20GB of data from my network drive now if I just did this immediately.

Thanks again.

 

the camera on my envy 14 didn't work when i got it either. i tried the driver etc. but nothing so sent it back to HP who said a wire was never connected. it took them 4 months to get the computer back to me. their service was shocking. i had to deal with one passive aggressive CS rep after another. pathetic.

anyways, when i got the computer back the camera was working. that was about 2 months ago. now today it is not working again. i'm going to try all the software repairs i can but if it doesn't work then screw it.

i work in finance so excel is my tool of choice. i'm PC all the way but in the last 6 years of owning PC laptops it's been one frustration after the other. i think i'll just get a mac book pro... i used to think that they were a rip off because when you compare the specs to the new envy 15 for example, it seems really expensive, but i now realize that the you are not paying all that for hardware... part of that premium is for a computer that will work everyday until it dies years down the road, unlike this piece of crap hp envy/windows 7 combo that i currently own, which has probably worked perfectly for about 20% of the time i have owned it.

 

There are some lemons in every company and you can't prevent them from happening at all. I'm guessing you just got unlucky with the service because 4 months is way too long for a repair to happen. I'm in no way being critical towards Apple or anything but it is known that they are big supporters of planned obsolescence so you can be assured that your computer will break down sooner than later.

 

hi, my first HP laptop is not doing so well after 4 years, so i think planned obsolescence is something everyone does, not just apple.

4 months is way too long, and the way i was treated in that 4 months is the worst part. well, that was the worst part. the fact that my "repaired" camera is not broken again after less than 2 month is the worst part.

i'm not so much worried about my computer dying in 4 years - i think any laptop has that risk, and to be honest the apples look like better quality than most - but after my last 6 years with HP laptops, i just want something that works properly one day to the next, for a reasonable about of time.

i was considering the new envy 15 up until yesterday, but seeing my webcam break again... the several hundred dollar premium for an apple seems like the best value in the world to me now, when i consider how SH!T hp quality and service have been with regards to my envy 14.

 

Well everyone is entitled to how much they want to pay for what they receive so if you think Apple is the way to go then you should go for it. From what I hear Apple care is a great service and absolutely worth getting a Mac for, but when you buy a Mac you also have to think of the other costs that it takes to buy Windows separately to run on bootcamp and costs such as not being able to run a program on Mac at all. In the end it's up to you on what you want to purchase and if you really think Mac is the way to go then go for it, just remember that HP has a 21 day full refund policy if you just want to give the Envy 15 a run.

 

thanks, i'll be thinking about it for a bit.

i am worried about HP after the 21 days. their quality, at least in my case, is questionable, and their customer service area is staffed by a bunch of passive aggressive useless turnips, so for me HP is a massive risk.