T530 webcam comes and goes

[r3dplanet]

Hey gang,

I have a T530 with some mild upgrades still running Windows 7 Pro. Lately the camera will not be available when I open Skype or Zoom or any camera app. The workaround is to uninstall / reinstall the camera from the device manager and then it works until the next reboot or when it comes out of sleep. Then I have to do the process again. It's laborious. There aren't any power settings available for the camera in the device manager so I can't disable power management for the camera specifically.

Has anyone else had this trouble? Any fixes?

Thanks!

[MikalE]

The cameras included with computers have always made me scratch my head about operating them. There is no GUI for the camera, and instead relies on a third-party app to initiate operation.

It's not like you can open the Control Panel or the Start menu and select 'Camera'. Pisses me off really.

I have only used the camera for one app while I was house training my dog eight years ago so I could watch how she behaved in the house while alone via my cell phone on the internet.

Never used it before or since.

[kfzhu1229]

It's not like you can open the Control Panel or the Start menu and select 'Camera'. Pisses me off really.

Well Windows 10 has exactly that app called camera. It has a dumbed down Nokia Lumia interface and works just fine on the laptops that ive come across that ive upgraded to Windows 10.

[MikalE]

I'll have to check for that on my G3.

[kfzhu1229]

I'll have to check for that on my G3.

Well there really isn't much substance to get that app working. Its literally as easy as you said. start menu -> camera.

[Neil]

I use the webcam in my T430 for the occasional Zoom meeting, and have twice had the camera fail to start. Strange thing about it was on one occasion, booted and started Zoom meeting right off, but camera failed to start. So I went through that entire (short) meeting without the camera. On another occasion, I started Zoom and left the video preview open for several minutes (camera was working fine), but when I actually joined the meeting the camera would not work. I simply rebooted the computer, and the camera started along with my Zoom meeting (for which I was almost late after the reboot).

Never have I had that issue with my T500, only with the T430, which I suppose is just a 14" version of the same machine as the T530.

[UMPC2024]

Do you have Communications Utility installed? I used to have problems with my T430 camera after reinstalling Windows 7 and trying to keep everything stock (no Lenovo programs whatsoever). Installing the Communications Utility somehow "talks" to the camera and let's it work with Skype more than once. I haven't used Zoom, so I can't attest to how it will work there.

[Neil]

Pretty sure I don't have any Lenovo apps installed. I don't use this system much, but set it up with a clean install of Windows 10. I'll have to give the Communications Utility a try and see if it makes any difference for me.