Surface Pro 8 camera issues; have to constantly disable and re-enable camera driver to get it to work

Anonymous

I've had an on-going issue with my surface pro 8 since I first got it about 20 months ago. The camera will stop working, light will stay on. This happens quite frequently, up to a few times per hour sporadically while using the camera. I've only really been bothered by this more recently as I've been using the camera more for work.

Both front and rear-facing cameras will cease working when this happens.

Disabling and re-enabling the camera driver solves the problem temporarily, making me think it's a driver issue. I've previously attempted to uninstall and install the latest drivers to no effect.

Thank you for your time in this matter.

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Anonymous

Thank you for reporting the issue. A fix is available through Windows Update. For more information about updates for your Surface available through Windows Update see the Surface Pro 8 update history page.

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51 additional answers

Anonymous

2024-03-10T19:51:53+00:00

Going on almost a week with zero camera issues since the 3/4 firmware updates via Windows Update. 100% stable and snappy Windows Hello face sign-in. Sounds like it's not the silver bullet for all SP8 users though. I have the Surface Pro 8 Model 1983 i5 model specifically. These firmware updates seem to have finally fixed the camera issues for this model at least.
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Anonymous

2024-03-12T01:05:37+00:00

Very lucky you. I have the exact SP8 model but the update did not fix the issue. :(
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Anonymous

2024-03-12T09:39:11+00:00

The surface pro 8 has been one of the worst purchases ever. I had issues with the old teams and windows hello. Finally gave up on Hello, so its a function I don't use anymore. Camera was relatively stable on the old teams, now we go to new teams and it breaks again totally. Before I can disable and enable from setting the camera and it doesn't fix it anymore. Microsoft, its your hardware and your software, why HP/DELL/ASUS/etc. work better than your own product?! Its really frustrating such lack of integration of hardware and software. So fedup with this computer I wish I could go back in time and return it.

Hope someone from Microsoft jumps into this subject once and for all and fixes it.
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Anonymous

2024-03-14T16:17:36+00:00
Paste this into a .txt document and then save it as .bat

If you're going to put it on your taskbar (recommend), you'll need to shift+right click it, properties, shortcut, advanced, and ensure "Run as administrator" is checked.

I improved your batch file a bit so that you don't have to shift-right click. I find it a bit easier when using the device in tablet mode. Save it as a .bat file, double-click, and approve the admin prompt.

Batch script below:
```
@echo off

if not "%1"=="am_admin" (powershell start -verb runas '%0' am_admin & exit /b)

wmic path Win32_PnPEntity where "name='Intel(R) TGL AVStream Camera'" call disable

wmic path Win32_PnPEntity where "name='Intel(R) TGL AVStream Camera'" call enable
```
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