How to identify your webcam (and then find its driver)

well, that amcap program i have actually tried to use b4 posting in here. it does not work. i have re0installed the drivers and done everything i think i can.

sadfully i guess its time for a new one...

i am gonna randomly keep trying things. but i think am about to give up on it.

if you have any other ideas i will gladdly try them.

Hmm... it sounds like a new web cam will end up the solution.. but just a point of note....

Do you get any error message when you try to install the driver file i gave you??? After you try to install it, (and you see no error messages?) does Windows still report Problem Device message you indicated in prior post

USB camera USB\VID_0C45&PID_608F&MI_00\6&836B466&0&0000 The drivers for this device are not installed

hello looking around

brother so glad to know that you are helping people out...i have read all your posts in detail...but still cant find the solution for my problem...now see if you can help me out
1.i brought this camera from my friend who havent used it for long.
its the enet cam with the model haveng 3 lights on each side of lens.
2 im using windows 7,now when i plugged it in,it couldnt upload any driver and gave this "unknown device" thing.and failed to install hardware.
now when i go to device manager to get this hardware id,i dont see any unknown device or a yellow question mark so tht i can use it to get hardware id,i tried some of softwares u gave with it but none is working,now the main thing is when i plug-in the camera in usb,the computer does not show any response,like no detection of usb etc etc,it keeps working as normal,i also tried hardware troubleshooter by windows but still nothing up,i think u have got my problem perfectly still if u need something else,i will provide u with reference information,i will b visitiong the thread everyday,waiting for your response brother,tc

Getting the hardware ID is the easier part. I suspect finding a driver for Win 7 will be much harder (my guess is: impossible)

Problem: Sounds like you have an older web cam... And likely only older drivers available for it. Up till and including Windows XP, Windows drivers could be digitally signed or unsigned. Most older web cams worked with (and you can only find) unsigned drivers for them. Starting with Vista, Windows will ONLY work with signed drivers

But to at least see your hardware IDs (so as to check), try this

• First make sure your cam is connected and powered on
• Click Start->Run, enter: msinfo32. Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
• Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
• If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post

/* edit */
If your cam is connected it should appear as a Problem Device. If it's not then the cam, USB cable or USB port are likely faulty

Hello lookin around

dude u were right,i think d cam is not working,so lets throw it in dustbin haha,will buy a new one...as nothing appeared in problem devices one when i attached it,but the thing is its mic n lights are working....and windows also picked up d device when i first attached it...weirddd

***please help - driver needed***

Hi everyone,
Just looking for a little help please, and please excuse my technological lack of knowledge!

I have also a fairly much unidentified Chinese webcam which doesn't want to work,
the brand says Fametech but has absolutely no other info. However I have tracked the model down by site on this website;

fametech.cn/cpzsDetail.asp?ID=502

I have tried emailing company many times for a driver but no luck, I don't think they comprehend English.

Anyway details are as follows;

V-Gear TalkCam Messenger Pro USB\VID_0C45&PID_612A\5&F621115&0&2 Failure using the VxD loader.

Essentially my computer HP Presario V3500 Notebook PC, Windows vista basic, 32 bit, Direct x 10 etc, doesn't want to recognise my webcam.

Can someone please suggest maybe a universal/generic driver that I may be able to use for this webcam, and/or any other way I can fix this problem??

Again excuse my lack of technological knowledge so please be specific and step by step.

MANY MANY MANY THANKS IN ADVANCE! I appreciate all the hard work done for everyone. - James

Could you please do the following

First, let's verify if the cam appears as a Windows Problem Device

• Make sure all your devices are connected and powered on
• Click Start->Run, enter: msinfo32. Click the + sign next to Components to expand it
• Click Problem Devices. Anything appear?
• If yes, click on it, Ctrl-A to select all, Ctrl-C to copy it, Ctrl-V to paste into next post

Second, if the cam is NOT in the Problem Device list, go to Device Manager
> Find the cam in Device Manager, rt click the cam Properties
> Click the Driver tab. What driver info is displayed?
> Click Driver Details button. What files are listed?

Hi LookinAround,

Firstly thank you for trying to help.

Yes cam is in the problem device list.

V-Gear TalkCam Messenger Pro USB\VID_0C45&PID_612A\5&F621115&0&2 Failure using the VxD loader

Thanks
James

OK. Then please
Do you see the cam in Device Manager? It should likely have a yellow icon with a black !
> Rt click Properties then Details Tab. In the pulldown select Class Installer and please confirm you see something like MmSys.Cpl,MediaClassInstaller

Now open a command window. Click Start->Run, enter cmd. Then copy the command from the Code box below and paste it into the command window. It will create the file reg.txt on your desktop. Please attach it to your next post using the paper clip icon.

Code:

regedit /e "%USERPROFILE%\desktop\reg.txt" HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E96C-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}

Ok...

Did first step and got this;

sti_ci.dll.ClassInstall

Secondly paper clip attached.

Thanks.

Dang! I expected the cam to be a "Multimedia" class device (at least that's what they usually were in XP). Looks like it's a "Still Image" class device in Vista.

Let's try that reg command again only this time try the one below

Code:

regedit /e "%USERPROFILE%\desktop\reg.txt" HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{6bdd1fc6-810f-11d0-bec7-08002be2092f}

btw... did this cam used to work in XP but now fails for Vista?

Sorry for delay, thought I should try cam in older laptop running XP. No joy, XP laptop would not install, seemed to have trouble finding any software or driver to install device?

Second attachment as follows;

Cheers

Web cam is brand new, bought with my HP laptop approx 1 year ago. This is first time I have ever trird to hook it up and make it work.

you must have installed this cam with a driver CD because it's using a specific (i.e. non-generic) driver evidenced by the registry data you just provided

Code:

"ProviderName"="V-Gear"
"DriverDate"="10-14-2005"
"DriverVersion"="5.11.2.0"
"MatchingDeviceId"="usb\\vid_0c45&pid_612a"
"DriverDesc"="V-Gear TalkCam Messenger Pro"

It also points me to a driver installation file i'm guessing should be here C:\Windows\inf\oem79.inf. Could you
> make a copy of the oem79.inf file
> Rename the file to a .txt extension
> Then attach the file to your next post (techspot will attach a .txt file but not a .inf file)

Do you still have the installation CD? If you do you should try installing it on XP using the CD. (and i'll see what might be up with vista)

/* EDIT */
p.s. even if you can't find the cd, i'll see if i can also provide a driver to try on XP. At least curious to see if it;ll work on XP

Ok, I have attached what I think you requested to the best of my knowledge. Copied file is name oem79 txt

I swear I have NEVER used a cd to install this camera. In fact the camera was ALL I got. It was just on it's own. According to that website...

http://www.fametech.cn/cpzsDetail.asp?ID=502

REMARK;
1) No need driver installation under system Win Vista and XP-SP2
2) Installing our software ,it will support Vista, XP and Win2000, with functions inside.

Hoping this helps.

just a couple quick comments till i have a chance to look at it further

> Your cam is absolutely using a non-generic (i.e. non-Microsoft) driver installed
> So i can only speculate this driver gets found my Windows Update so it can be automatically downloaded online for install

> I also saw that's what they say
> An interesting quick observation: Vista was released in early 2007 (i think Jan)
> The driver was last modified Oct, 2005. The comments in the driver installation file header

Code:

;==========================================================================
; USB PC Camera Plus (SN9C102P/105/110/120) INF (for Windows 98/ME/2000/XP)
; Copyright(c) 2002-2004
; File version: 1.2.0.9
; Last modified: 2005-10-14
;==========================================================================

/* edit */
On your XP machine, why don't you connect the web cam and then look for the driver in Device Manager (again with a yellow icon). Rt click Update Driver. Does it find the driver by itself?

Many mysteries makes for quite a quandry

Not the least of which is how the V-Gear driver for this webcam got installed on your Vista machine. Are you sure you don't recall installing any software that came with it? Referring back to their website they state

1) I question whether their driver is really Vista compatible (we'll get to that in a bit)
2) "Installing software" implies installing an application they provide. And i'm guessing the driver comes packed in with the application install!
3) Is possible the driver came as part of a Windows Update but few drivers do (and seems to only be very common drivers vs. one for a web cam

Regardless of above, could you try the following on your XP computer

1. On your XP machine, rt click the device in Device Manager. rt click Update Driver and let's see if Windows finds any driver
2. I did, in fact, find i think a driver for this web cam. It looks like it would work under XP (let's prove that) before we attempt Vista install (and pls wait for my instructions before trying it on Vista) So just do XP first
3. Download file at this link V-Gear_TalkCam_Messenger_Pro_V5.12.1.5_Windows.lok . Save it on your desktop
4. Rename the file to a .exe extension (i had to create it as .lok so i could save it on esnips for you)
5. Rt click My Computer, click Properties. Click Hardware, then Driver Signing button
   > Then click Warn
   > Check box Make this action system default
   > Click OK then OK
6. Now run the downloaded file
7. Does it prompt you warning this driver has not passed Windows testing? If so, click Continue with Installation (and tell me if it asked or not)
8. Now test the web cam (if needed, also reboot)

JOY!!

:grinthumb

Wooohoo! Thank you success! on my xp computer.

Did exactly as you said, got the warning driver has not passed windows testing, continued, tested the cam but no joy. I actually tried the driver you supplied me before as well....

HOWEVER what I didn't do when I had tried downloading and installing it then and now was the reboot!

I re booted, windows hardware wizard started, created a restore point and then proceeded to install (or link driver to device). When it was finished tried webcam and VOILA!!! Success, thank you so so much!!

Now what should I do to try this on my new Vista machine? Easy step by step instructions would be most appreciated.

Very happy thanks!

Ah-HAH! J'accuse! (just kidding, LOL) But that would explain how it is i found a V-Gear driver in your Vista registry! :approve:

Moving on to Vista... let me explain the issues

First, some info about Driver Signing
MS added "digital signatures" during XP. These are encrypted certificates used to guarantee the identity of the signature. They're used for many things. One thing is to create "signed drivers"
> A signed driver is a driver which meets MS testing standards and has been granted a digital signature

Remember my instructions in prior post when i had you check the Warn option?

In XP you can Allow, Block, or be Warned (as you choose) whether or not you want to install an unsigned driver. And clearly the driver you just installed is unsigned since you saw a Warning.

While signed drivers were an option in XP, they are required starting with Vista. Meaning if you install that same driver in Vista it won't work cause it's not signed.

Now I have read of Vista hacks to turn off Vista's signed driver requirement but i've never used them myself so proceed at your own risk
1) Since I've never tried doing it myself, i can't tell you how well they work or if it can cause other problems (e.g. will it then allow you to install drivers (or malware) that otherwise couldn't/shouldn't get installed
2) You must leave it off if you want the driver to work
3) But just fyi. and at your own risk.. some links/info below (tho IMHO i'd probably just buy another cam for Vista and see my footnote below)
> A tool you could use
> To find more info and hacks google: unsigned drivers vista

Footnote:
In all fairness to Fametech i'll add the following..
The V-Gear cam and your Fametech cam are 2 different cameras. BUT they both happen to use the same video chip inside (which is why the V-Gear driver happens to also work with the Fametech)
> If Fametech actually provides their own application and driver, i couldn't find anything on any English websites
> There were some references on Chinese sites but i didn't want to try downloading from any of them (if only in part as i couldn't read what i was really downloading.. aside from worries about malware
> But if they're selling cams with claims of no driver sounds cagey to me. At minimum (from their site) they are providing a program to use the cam and i'm 99% sure that program includes the driver (the user just doesn't realize it)
> And why the site claims they have an "application" that works with the cam yet you say your cam arrived with no software of any kind is a good question!

** edit **
btw.. i wouldn't be surprised if, in fact, the software offered by Fametech turned out to be the same as V-Gear (often happens when two cams which look different actually use the same video chip inside)

superb work lookin around.....youre a real helping man....carry awn the good work....