Windows 7 Quickcam and Win7 64-bit....At Wits End

[petes457]

Not meaning to rehash any previous threads, but I'm at a loss. I'm pretty good technically and driven until I usually fix things, but this one just plain has me stumped.

I have a Quickcam Ultra that worked fine on Vista. I did a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit (7000) on my machine (Intel dual core, 4GB RAM) and as I remember, the install recognized my camera, did a web driver install (stating compatibility issues of course) and the camera briefly worked. However, it immediately stopped working and I have been through multiple reinstallations - starting with Logitech's software online for Vista (11.5), letting Windows upgrade it to 11.8. The Device Manager says the device is installed correctly and working. However, no application will activate the camera (Quickcam, Skype, Live Messenger) - they all say the webcam is in use by another application and to close the application. I have no idea what application it could possibly be talking about. I found a Quickcam 11.9 version online as many people have been saying this works for them. It installed correctly, but I still have the same issue. I also have a ATI tv tuner card and uninstalled that wondering if that was interfering, but no luck.

So, does anyone have any new insights? I've gone through multiple forums and threads and know that other are having similar problems. But it also seems that several people have discovered solutions and has got it working. By the way, I have installed this camera on a Windows 7 32-bit machine and it works fine.

Thanks in advance for any help to this extremely aggravating problem.

 

[Chuts]

Try uninstalling the Logitech software - Skype should "see" the camera without the need for the Logitech software.

 

[petes457]

Thanks Chuts for your quick response. But the Logitech software (I don't think) is the problem. Nevertheless, the Quickcam software is uninstalled. The driver version in Device Manager is 11.80 and says the device is working properly. When I go into Skype/Video Settings, it "sees" the camera in the drop-down menu. However, the camera does not start and all that I can see in Video Settings with the device set to Logitech Quickcam Ultra is a black square where video should be returned. When I go to Live Messenger/Tools/Audio and Video Setup, the video setup returns a white video square with text "Cannot connect to this webcam. Close any programs that may be using your webcam and choose Set Up Audio and Video to try again." By the way, the quickcam microphone works fine and I'm able to set that up and use it. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dmunny]

Any luck?

Did you ever have any luck figuring this out? I basically have the exact same issue, but I am using built in cam for Dell XPS m1330, which is a Creative Labs camera... I have tried removing/adding different drivers, but as you said, Windows reports the device functioning properly. This is frustrating! What in the heck could be using the camera?!

Thanks.

 

[petes457]

Hi dmunny. It was practically impossible to fix even though I worked long and hard to try to solve it. But I never did. I recently did a clean install of the Windows 7 Build 7100 RC and it installed the drivers automatically from Windows Update and they worked (although the software complained during the install that it was not designed for this operating system). So my webcam is functioning with the new clean RC build.

 

[kavim]

I'm having a bit of a problem with the quickcam software too, i don't know if anyone can help me out too

My quickcam sphere works fine on the windows drivers or whatever windows update uses to install it... but wen i tried to install quickcam even in compatibility mode (not sure if that was wise) it nuked my entire computer and i had to system restore...

is there any way of getting quickcam working in windows 7 64 bit so i can use the quickcam interface to move my camera through the software, rather than manually shifting my camera left to right by hand and having it stuck at the same horizontal viewing angle...

any help would be great

thanks

 

[petes457]

HI Kavim. I'm the original poster and as you can see from my expereince, once the Quickcam software installation goes bad, it seems doomed. I spent countless hours trying to install the software and get the drivers to work and never did - until I did a clean install of a later Windows 7 build (7100). After the clean install of Windows, the first thing I did was install the Quickcam. Windows installed automatically the initial drivers as I remember - version 11.8. I had found a copy of the latest Quickcam software 11.9 on the net. (This software is typically only available through automatic download directly from Logitech.) I carefully installed it normally ignoring the warning about it being incompatible - and everything worked and has been working for a month now. So the only thing I learned from my experience is that you can get the drivers and software to working on Windows 7, but I had to do a clean install of Windows to get it to install properly.

 

[kavim]

ahh, thanks for the reply petes, it seems if the fiddling with installing and reinstalling doesn't work i may have to resort to a reinstall like you. I'm already using build 7100 so its a shame it didn't work.

I guess the good thing about windows 7 is it doesn't take too long to reinstall, but of course everything else takes eons to install so lets hope its not all for nothing and the quickcam software works

thanks again

 

[hgrising]

Frustrations Soon Gone?

HI Kavim. I'm the original poster and as you can see from my expereince, once the Quickcam software installation goes bad, it seems doomed. I spent countless hours trying to install the software and get the drivers to work and never did - until I did a clean install of a later Windows 7 build (7100). After the clean install of Windows, the first thing I did was install the Quickcam. Windows installed automatically the initial drivers as I remember - version 11.8. I had found a copy of the latest Quickcam software 11.9 on the net. (This software is typically only available through automatic download directly from Logitech.) I carefully installed it normally ignoring the warning about it being incompatible - and everything worked and has been working for a month now. So the only thing I learned from my experience is that you can get the drivers and software to working on Windows 7, but I had to do a clean install of Windows to get it to install properly.

OK Petes457,

I've had the same problem on my main HTPC so I went back to Vista. With your success I'll be trying to reinstall Win 7 (7100). I would like to clarify a couple of things from your post.

One: This is for the 64-bit Windows 7 right?
Two: Did you install Quickcam software 11.9 after 11.8 had already been automatically downloaded and installed on the computer?
Three: Are you successful using Skype on your computer and if so, which version do you use? Does Live Messenger work also?

Thanks and if you can offer any more tips to make sure this works for me I would be very grateful.

~HgRising

 

[kavim]

Ok...
I just downloaded quickcam 11.9 so I'm going to try it now...
i've tried quickcam10.5... and that seriously messes up my computer and requires a system restore
I've tried 11.5 and when I tried it, quickcam was installed successfully but all of the options were greyed out so I couldn't actually move my camera angle through the software, which was the whole point of me installing it in the first place, but the camera and mic worked just as it did before installing the software, so there was no improvements made by installing it in the first place.

So I uninstalled all of the quickcam software and drivers...
Oddly enough quickcam drivers of logitech drviers appear nowhere in my uninstall programs list, but my quickcam sphere works fine on just plugging into the USB port

So at the moment, without installing any additional software or drivers, and apprently without downloading anything from automatic updates (although I'm not sure of this) when I plug my quickcam Sphere in (on Windows 7 Build 7100 64 bit) my camera and mic both function perfectly in skype and windows live messenger... but as I've said it just acts as a fixed camera which I have to reposition by hand... which is annoying.

I'm using skype 4.0.0.227 which i think is just the latest one from the website
and the newest windows live which fortunately works for me on windows 7, i had great problems with it in XP and Vista x64

When I go into device manager and check the driver version that appears for my quickcam it says 10.5.1.2023

I think we need to bear in mind that different webcams will probably work with different versions of the quickcam software... mine is a few years old now... so I have no idea if version 11.9 will work or not.. but I shall try it and let you know!

But basically to answer your question, very long-windedly, I didn't need to install anything extra to make the webcam and mic functional, windows update did that for me. But like everyone I'm having a lot of trouble getting the software working to make the webcam, FULLY functional

If all else fails I might reinstall Windows when I have time.... but don't really want to...

Hope this helps

-Kavim

 

[hgrising]

Logitech Quickcam and Skype

Alright.

Logitech Quickcam is a dirty piece of software when it comes to Windows 7. Sure, Win 7 downloads the drivers automatically to install my Logitech Quickcam Ultra but if I attempt to install the software (11.9) as well, hooboy the insanity begins.

First, midway through installation, I get a pop up that states "windows explorer has stopped working" and the task bar and icons on the desktop all go away. The installation finishes normally and requests a restart. It's the only thing the computer allows me to do since attempting to run Windows Explorer again from the task manager (ctrl+alt+del) doesn't work.

After the restart, the first thing I see again is "windows explorer has stopped working." No way to fix without doing a clean install really. (I love how I can install Win 7 in only 15 minutes)

I know everyone will say I'm going to have to wait for a later driver from Logitech but this bites the big one in the mean time.

Additionally, separate issue, Skype's latest (4.0.277?) crashes my system when logging in but figured out how to fix it by accident trying old software. I installed Skype 3.8 first and set up to auto log-in when it starts. Only the Skype crashes a few seconds after connecting and not the whole system. Afterwards, Win 7 suggests downloading newer software. I installed. Then, when it auto signs in again, all is good. Hope this helps someone.

 

[kavim]

install fails but software works a little...

I sort of made an interesting development...
If i install quickcam 11.9 software... it doesn't recognise my camera, but i install it anyway. And when it gets to starting the services part of the installation, it tries for a bit, and then fails and aborts the installation, but before that, i can click on the quickcam shortcut and use the software partially to move my camera angle through the software, which is all i really wanted in the first place.

So for anyone who wants to use the software to move around their camera angle it might work to try installing quickcam 11.9, then start the software when the installation is half done and use the software like that until a restart. it only takes a minute to install at worst, so its a passable workaround for me...

Sorry hg... not really sure what's going on with your system. I guess its a case of luck of the draw whether it works or not unfortunately. You might just have to experiment with the order in which u install things and keep trying different versions of the software.

I've been able to fix system lock ups with system restore in safe mode when quickcam wouldn't let explorer or any programs run at startup...

hope u have some more luck and we don't end up having to shell out for new webcams...

 

[hgrising]

Skype and HT Stryker Sound Card Conflict

Additionally, separate issue, Skype's latest (4.0.277?) crashes my system when logging in but figured out how to fix it by accident trying old software. I installed Skype 3.8 first and set up to auto log-in when it starts. Only the Skype crashes a few seconds after connecting and not the whole system. Afterwards, Win 7 suggests downloading newer software. I installed. Then, when it auto signs in again, all is good. Hope this helps someone.

Update to this. I know this should be in it's own thread perhaps. The solution to my Skype problem is not the above mentioned. That was just coincidence because I hadn't noticed something. I have an HT Stryker 7.1 sound card. When I install the c-media driver and software for windows 7 from their website everything works fine with Skype. I output to my receiver with the optical s/pdif and when I switch the c-media software to "PCM" everything continues to work well. But when I switch it to "Dolby Digital" that's when the system encounters some kind of conflict when Skype starts up and freezes the computer needing a restart.

Conclusion: When using Skype and outputting through s/pdif, do not use Dolby Digital and keep sound card software in PCM or perhaps another mode. When I watch a movie I just switch it to DD and shut down Skype and all is good.

Hope this helps.