How to check if the camera on a laptop is working. How to check the camera on a laptop - online services and programs for checking

Today on almost every laptop, whether it is flagship model, or a representative entry level, a stationary webcam is installed, and the user does not need to separately purchase such an important and irreplaceable component. It also comes with a full set of drivers and software for its full operation.

For example, if we are talking about an Asus laptop, then the built-in driver package will also be from Asus. The same applies to other manufacturers. All system files are installed immediately on Windows and do not require complex additional configuration. If a part is physically intact, the likelihood that it will malfunction or stop working altogether is extremely low.

Therefore, when buying a new, and even more so a used laptop computer, it is important check its functionality. Otherwise, you may encounter various unforeseen problems and difficulties.

You can check your laptop's webcam in the most in various ways. The main thing is to follow the instructions of the masters and follow the recommendations described in this article.

Checking with standard Windows tools

If your device has a new version of Windows 8 or 10 installed, you can check the functionality of the built-in camera without using individual programs. Just write in the search bar the word "Camera" and select the first object found. If, after opening the program, an image appears on the monitor, it means that the test was successful and you will not have to solve the problem in additional ways. The camera control panel can be found in another section. It's called "scanners and cameras."

It is important to know that some laptop models have special utilities and programs for the operation of the component. They are easy to find in the panel Windows management or in the "All Programs" section, which is located in the "Start" menu.

How to check through the program

Today there are a lot various programs, which can be used as a tester. Among them: Skype, Webmax, CyberLink, Viber and many others. If we take as an example the most popular tool for voice and video communication, Skype, then checking a camera based on this program will look like this.

First you need to download the master from official sources Skype installations and install the application on your device. After completing the installation process, you need to go to the “Tools” item and click on the “Settings” tab. On the fourth line on the left there will be a “video settings” item. If the camera works without failures, you will be able to see the picture in a small window. When using other software tools, everything is done in a similar way. Sometimes the part turns on only after rebooting the computer, so don’t panic when the camera image instantly disappears.

How to check online

In addition to programs and utilities, you can check the functionality of a component in another way. One of them is visiting special websites, on which you can take an online test. There are a lot of relevant services that offer testing of a laptop’s webcam and microphone. Before you start the test, you need to allow the site to use certain components of your laptop.

After you open access, a window with an image will appear on the screen. This method is very simple and convenient, because... it does not require installation of additional software or other complicated steps. Therefore, if you want to check your laptop’s webcam as quickly as possible, but do not have the time or desire to install specialized utilities and programs, online services will become the best way out from the situation.

What to do if the part stops working?

Buy new laptop and forget about the problem;
Bring the device to a service center;
Try to troubleshoot problems yourself by following the instructions;

Oddly enough, but in most cases the laptop camera stops working due to disabling drivers in Device Manager. If the problem is of a hardware (physical) nature and cannot be solved without contacting a specialist, it is better to take the component to a service center as quickly as possible and entrust the repair to experienced professionals. But hardware failures occur only after the laptop is dropped, flooded with liquid or other aggressive influences. Less often, manufacturing defects lead to damage.

Therefore, the likelihood that the problem lies in the drivers is very high. But you can solve it by rolling back the drivers to previous version in Device Manager. After a reboot, the part will work again.

Other ways to restore functionality

There are a number of other methods that can repair your laptop's webcam. Among them:

removing drivers;
replacing the USB connector;
reinstalling Windows;

For almost all modern laptop models, the manufacturer provides a built-in camera. And in modern world, given that video communication is becoming increasingly popular, this feature is not at all superfluous. But how can you make sure that the camera on the device you are interested in is really working, and you won’t have to run around in the future? service centers.

In general, if you buy a brand new laptop with installed camera, then in no way additional settings she doesn't need it. It doesn't need to be activated, the developers had to worry about installing all the necessary drivers and so on.

If this is the case, then when you launch any software that uses a webcam, it should automatically work. A flashing green indicator near the camera will inform you about this.

But what if you want to buy a laptop second-hand? Or they decided to make sure that the camera works fine on the new device. Let's take a look some simple ways which will help you check the functionality of the camera on your laptop.

The first thing you need to do is find a program on your laptop that works with the camera. To do this, go to the Start menu and in the list of programs, find something called Cam, Video, etc. For example, I have an icon in the form of a camera, but the name doesn’t really correspond – AMCap.

Launch the program. If everything is in order with the camera, a normal image will appear and the green indicator mentioned above will light up.

If you have not found such a program, then the second thing you can do to check the camera is to use any video chat, Skype, Odnoklassniki or any other program that uses video calls. I'll check the camera's operation on Skype; if you don't have such a program, you can install Skype on your computer.

I launch the program and now I need to find an item in the menu related to checking video communications. I go to the tab “Tools” - “Settings”.

In the settings, in the “General” section, select the item "Video Settings". A video image appears in the main window. If your camera is working properly, then a picture should also appear.

If you don't find it on your laptop installed program to work with the camera, and it is not possible to use video chat due to the lack of an Internet connection - the third method. You will need to download, for example, to a USB flash drive, a portable version of the program that will capture video from the installed webcam.

Such programs can be found on the Internet, and they are convenient because they do not require installation on a computer: you download the files and launch the application. I used the program My camera Portable 1.0.1, you can download it from Yandex.Disk by following the link.

Open the downloaded folder "Camera Final". Next, go to: “Camera” – “bin” – “Debug” and click on the “Camera” application.

A program window will open in which an image from the camera should appear.

And the fourth point is verification installed drivers. To do this, go to “Start” - "Control Panel" – "Device Manager".

Now on the list installed devices find "Image Processing Devices", expand the item by clicking on the arrow, right-click on the camera and go to “Properties”.

On the "General" tab, in the field "Device Status", should be written "The device is working normally". If this is not the case for you, go to the “Driver” tab.

By using a method that is more suitable for you to check the webcam on a laptop, you can rest assured that it is working. In a store, you can simply not buy a laptop with a non-working or not connected camera - then you will have to go to service centers, and if you buy a laptop from someone else, you can reduce the price.

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All modern models Laptop computers usually have a built-in webcam. This eliminates the need to purchase external device, its position settings. Some users are facing problems and do not know how to turn on the camera on their laptop because they are using new version windows, have not worked with webcams before and do not know how to connect correctly.

How to find the camera on a laptop

The device is always built into the lid of the laptop and is located on top panel. Before activation, the webcam does not manifest itself in any way and only when it starts working, a nearby light lights up, which signals the start of work. If this does not happen in automatic mode and you can’t turn on the webcam on your laptop, you need to check that the PC “sees” it. If the device is not detected by the system, there is no driver or it is broken, the video camera will not work. The easiest way to check this is with special applications:

built-in windows tools;
Online services;
Specialized programs for video communication (Skype).

How to enable the camera on a Windows 7 laptop

This version of the operating system is already considered outdated, but it supports the necessary functionality. There are several basic ways to enable a webcam on Windows 7, which must be selected depending on your goals. If you need to record video, then these are better suited third party programs, which have a video saving function. If your goal is to communicate with friends and relatives on the Internet, then Skype or Live cam are better suited to activate the webcam.

Older PC models had a dedicated power button on the side of the case. In new laptops, for activation there is special combination buttons on the keyboard to manual mode turn on/off webcam. For this purpose it is used function key Fn. On all laptops it is located in the bottom row on the left and right. Next, you need to find the key with the webcam icon on different models On PC it is assigned to different buttons. Here are the keyboard shortcuts for the most popular models portable computers:

acer laptop– Fn+F6
asus laptop– Fn+V
hp laptop – Fn+F2.

Via Device Manager

If you can’t start the device using websites or programs, you need to turn on the video camera on your laptop using Windows tools. The device manager is well suited for this, which will help determine the presence of problems, the absence of a driver, if there are any problems. The webcam is connected as follows:

Open the "Control Panel" section.
Find "Device Manager" in the list.
Scroll down and find the Imaging Devices section. Expand the list; it should display the name of the built-in webcam if it is detected by the system.

If the name next to it is lit exclamation mark, which means you need to download the driver and install it. Without these instructions, the device will not function or operate properly. As a rule, for laptops these files are located on the driver disk from the package. If the down arrow icon is lit, then you need to:

right-click on the name;
press the “enable” item.

Via Skype

On a PC, the webcam will be in inactive mode until the program that requires it to work is launched. If you don't need video calling, then it won't work. An easy way to check its operation and enable the built-in camera on your laptop is to run Skype program. The first time you turn it on, you will be asked to configure the microphone and video camera, if one is connected. The algorithm is as follows:

Go to the official Skype website.
Download latest version programs for Windows.
Install the application and run it through the executable file.
Immediately inside the window you will see a request to configure the video. If the camera is functioning, the program will immediately detect it.

Through other resources

If you do not want to download anything to your PC and you just need to check the functionality of video recording, then you can use any online chat, which supports sending and receiving images. There are many resources on the Internet that offer to start communicating online. When you enter the site, you will be asked for access to open the camera on your laptop and start a video chat. Allow the site to perform this action and your device will be activated immediately.

How to connect a camera on a Windows 8 laptop

This is one of the versions operating system, which didn't become popular but was often the standard OS for new PCs. Using the camera on a laptop with Windows 8 is very easy if the drivers are installed correctly and there are no hardware problems. You need:

Click on the Start menu.
Click on the down arrow.
Click on the “camera” program.

Now, almost all laptop models, from any manufacturer, are equipped with a built-in webcam. But there are also older models where there were no cameras, or perhaps there was a glitch in the operating system and the webcam does not work. What to do in such cases? How to launch the camera, where to click?

Today there are several ways to start a video camera. Moreover, the user must immediately determine for himself why he needs a camera on his laptop:

for communication;
for shooting videos or photos.

There are small nuances in choosing programs for a particular type of camera use. I would like to immediately make a reservation that any camera on a laptop should work by default. There is no need to perform any additional actions. Any video chat app should activate the camera without any additional movement.

How to turn on the camera via Skype

To start this application, first of all, you need to download and install it on your laptop. It is better to do this on the official website of the developer using the link - skype.

All the user needs to do is click the download button. Moreover, below there are buttons that allow you to download the application for other operating systems.

After this, the site itself will tell the user step by step what to do to connect the program and start communicating with friends.

So, the application is downloaded to the laptop. How to turn on the camera when working with Skype? It is important to note here that this application is intended primarily for free videos and audio calls. That is, the user can not only take photos and record video greetings.

After double click on the Skype icon, the user types the password and login of his account. If he did not log out of his account before closing Skype, then it will load without additional questions.

To check the operation of the webcam, just perform the following sequence of actions - click calls, select video, and right-click and select configure video.

After this, the camera will automatically connect and in the window that opens, the user will automatically see himself or whatever is in front of the camera at that moment. There is also an option to change your avatar, which will help you take several photos directly from the camera, and video settings will help you adjust the video signal. Nothing special was needed to connect the camera.

Connecting the camera through other resources

Built-in utility for connecting a web camera software at least 7, at least 8 Windows versions does not have. You just need to download the application. In addition to Skype, you can use other third party application, for example, Live web cam.

To download just click boot file, and then unpack it. After this, the program asks the user if he wants to allow the downloaded program to change settings on the computer. The answer should be yes.

After this, the user should click the button to accept the license agreements.

After this, the user selects what he is going to do with the program and where to save it, and then clicks next.

After this, the program will prompt you to select a location where pictures and videos will be saved. The user will only need to specify the path to the folder. After this, a simple interface will open in which you can change the settings, take a photo and start self-recording.

Turn on the camera - reinstall the drivers

The second most common reason Laptop webcam not turning on, missing drivers. The problem here is that after the system crashed as a result of a breakdown or virus attack, and someone I knew restored the operating system to the user, half of the drivers were simply not installed. The operating system could have been installed old or unfinished.

To check the completeness and correct operation of the drivers, you need to launch the device manager. To do this, just press the Win and R keys simultaneously. And in the window that appears, type devmgmt.msc. As shown in the picture.

After this, a dialog box will open for all devices for operating systems 7 and 8. After this, the user should view all devices in the window that opens. There should be no devices with a yellow exclamation mark.

If there are no such icons, then all the drivers are present on the laptop and nothing needs to be updated. But if there is, then you need to select this element, right-click, and select the command - update drivers.

If the drivers are not updated, then you need to go to the laptop manufacturer’s website and in the support section, download the necessary drivers.

For the most popular laptops, drivers can be downloaded from the links:

Asus - link (you need to enter the model);

After downloading the drivers, it will be enough to restart the laptop, the camera should work.

Another variant of the problem is that the web is not enabled, i.e. disabled. If in Device Manager there is an arrow pointing down next to the webcam model, then the camera is not connected to this device.

This means you need to select the webcam and right-click to bring up a dialog box and in it the user selects the command - enable. After this, the webcam should work.

Launch a webcam during the operating room Windows system 10 is possible using the Camera application. The user can learn how to do this, where, what to click, and also ask his question using these links to the office. website of the software manufacturer - Camera.

Webcam launch commands on the keyboard

There is a certain set of keys that help you quickly launch the webcam on different laptops. This is one of the most simple options activate and test the operation of the webcam without third-party services.

Each manufacturer has its own combinations, but sometimes they can coincide:

FN and V, or through the start menu - Acer Crystal Eye (the software must be licensed and installed on the laptop by the manufacturer);
FN and V or 3 simple programs that come with the software for the Asus laptop - ECap Camera, etc.;
FN+button with camera - for HP laptops or a standard combination of buttons, or through the default program - HP Camera;
Fn and Ecs for Lenovo laptops.

If none of the above methods to start the camera work, then you should have your laptop checked by a specialist. There may be something wrong with the equipment itself and will require repairs. Or you need to check for virus attacks.

Many users actively use the webcam on their laptop. It allows you to communicate via video via various applications and messengers. True, not everyone can turn on the camera without problems. Although there is nothing complicated in the process of activating it. All you need is to know a few nuances and the version of the OS that is installed on the laptop.

However, all this is easy in words, but not in reality. Therefore, to make it easier for you, we will explain in detail in this article how to enable the camera on a Windows device.

Indeed, most laptop models are equipped with a built-in web interface. As a rule, it is located at the top of the screen. Moreover, the webcam lens is often miniature and invisible. Sometimes even so much that many users for a long time and do not assume the presence of such a device in the laptop.

So before you buy a webcam, take a look at your computer to see if you already have a built-in model. You can also check whether the laptop has a camera programmatically:

What if the line “Image processing devices” is there, but the webcam model is not registered in the tab that opens? Drivers need to be updated. This can be done either through the “Device Manager” or by installing the software from the disk that came with the laptop. Find and download necessary drivers You can also do it on the Internet. The main thing is to know the webcam model.

Features of turning on the webcam on a laptop with Windows 7 or 8

Owners of devices with “seven” often experience difficulties turning on and checking the functionality of the webcam. Indeed, unlike the previous OS Windows Vista There is no corresponding "WindowsMovieMaker" application by default, which helps you quickly and easily turn on the camera.

WindowsMovieMaker interface

So Windows 7 laptop users need to use third party software. For example, Live app Webcam, distinguished by its clear and simple interface. Some difficulties may arise only during its installation. Therefore, it is better to carry out the Live Webcam installation process as follows:

Download from the Internet installation file and unpack it.
We start the installation of the program.
At some point, a window will appear in which the system will ask whether you can allow this utility to change settings on the computer. We answer “yes”.
Then you will need to click “accept” in the window with the license agreement.
All that remains is to select the components to install and where to save the program. Then click “next”.

It will also help you turn on and check the operation of your webcam. Skype messenger. All you need:

Download and install it;
Then go to the application;
Select the “Calls” section and right-click on the “Video” icon;
In the window that opens, click on the “Video Settings” line.

After which the camera will automatically turn on. Moreover, in the window that appears, you will see an image of yourself or what the lens is pointed at. By the way, through Skype you can adjust many webcam parameters, including brightness, contrast, saturation, etc.

Windows 8 OS also does not have staff programs to turn on the webcam. Therefore, on this RAM you can check its operation using the same applications as on the “seven”. You can also turn on the webcam on a laptop with Windows 8 through the “Device Manager” (you can find it - computer settings / control panel / hardware and sound).

How to enable the webcam on a Windows 10 laptop

The developers of this version of the OS have implemented a special service that is responsible for the operation of video communication tools. Therefore, no additional software is required to enable the webcam. You need to do the following:

Open the Start menu.
Click on the “All applications” item.
Next, look for and select the “Camera” service.
After which the camera should turn on and the corresponding image will appear on the screen.

If for some reason you cannot turn on the webcam on a laptop with Windows 10, then:

Go to the start menu.
Next, go to the “Settings” section, and from there to the “Privacy” subsection.
On the left, click on the “Camera” line.
At the top right of the window you will see a “slider button”. With its help, you need to allow applications to use the camera.

What is important to know?

Depending on the laptop manufacturer, the methods for turning on the camera may vary. For example, on some models of Asus, Lenovo, etc., it is possible to activate it through hot keys. As a rule, this is Fn + one of the buttons from F1 to F12 with a camera icon.
On a Toshiba laptop, turning on the built-in camera is not easy. Often, “native” drivers and a special program are required.
On Samsung laptops and netbooks, the webcam sometimes produces blurry and blurry image. The problem can be solved by installing drivers from the manufacturer's website. If this does not help, then pay attention to the lens itself - perhaps it is covered with a special protective film, which simply needs to be removed.
Sometimes on laptops (from any manufacturer - HP, Dexp Samsung, etc.) the webcam does not work because it is disabled in the BIOS. To enable it, you need to restart your computer. At the same time, during new download system, press F9 (on some laptops there is another key - Del, F1, F2, etc.) and go to the BIOS. Next, go to the Advanced section, select Onboard Device Configuration. Then select the Onboard Camera field. Change the value from Disabled to Enabled.