Lifecam Studio stopped working after firmware upgrade?!?

Anonymous
2011-02-22T07:17:34+00:00

Hi All.

I bought a new LifecamStudio 2 days ago. I installed the camera, following the instructions of course. In the end of the installation, I could se my self in the Lifecam software window, so far no problems, the camera worked. Suddenly a popup message appeared, telling me that the firmware of the camera needed to be upgraded, so I pressed OK. The firmware upgrade started but was shortly aborted with an errormessage, saying the upgrade was not succesfull. I tryed to reinstall  the firmware, but now it tells me hat I already have the most recent firmware installed. So the nproblem is now that, when I instert my camera into the USB port windows finds the camera, but as soon as I start any program the uses the camera it goes from a Lifecam Icon (in the hardware manager that is) to a unknown unit. The Lifecam studio software tells me that no camera is installed. I have installed the camera on other computers without any luck. 

/Stefan

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2011-04-11T21:46:02+00:00

Fixed it :)

In device manager underneath imaging devices I saw "Webcam" -- before the botched fw update it said "Microsoft LifeCam Studio" and had a diff driver.  I rolled back the driver (or if that doesn't work you can force it to use the one inside program files \ lifecam) then re-installed lifecam -- my cam now works.  Now -- what's the deal with this update utility and why's it changing what driver the camera uses?

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-03-19T23:54:03+00:00

    Hi steffo, 

    1.    Have you made any recent changes on the computer?

    2.    Are you unable to use the camera on any other computer?

    3.    Do you have any security software installed on the computer?

    4.    What is the version of Windows installed on the computer?

    Method 1

    I would suggest that you uninstall all the software and drivers related to the camera from the computer and later visit the Microsoft hardware website to install the latest version of software for the camera and check if it works.

    Download Webcam & Headset Software

    **http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/download/download.aspx?category=ICE**

    Uninstall or change a program

    **http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Uninstall-or-change-a-program**

    Uninstall or change a program

    **http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/Uninstall-or-change-a-program**

    Method 2

    If the above steps fails then refer the below Microsoft articles and check if it helps.

    Troubleshoot failures to find new LifeCam hardware

    **http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929087**

    Resolve compatibility issues between LifeCam and other programs

    **http://support.microsoft.com/kb/953692**

    Hope this helps!

    Halima S   - Microsoft Support.

    Visit our  Microsoft Answers Feedback Forumand let us know what you think.

    Halima,

    Before you offer any more advice I suggest that you try the following experiment.  

    1.  Take a working LifeCam.
    2.  Do the Firmware upgrade on it.
    3.  Observe what happens . .     which will be as follows: Your LifeCam is now a brick, and will not be recognizable to any computer anywhere.

    This kind of extensive "advice" (e.g. Wiggle your ears twice. Poke the camera with a copper rod. Pledge allegiance to the American flag in front of the Post Office), simply illustrates that you have never done steps one through three above.

    And this is why many people dislike Microsoft was much as they do.  Some people LOATHE Microsoft.  I am not one of them.  I simply dislike your business practices.  They stink.

    Neko san  

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-03-19T23:48:13+00:00

    You have just turned your camera into a brick.  

    Now ask Microsoft if they care.

    Neko san

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-03-19T18:18:57+00:00

    Thanks for the reply.

    I was the one who posted the phone number, i do have an active case, 4 months now. Everytime  I call MS,  I get the usual scripted questions, extremely frustrating and it's always someone from india. It just goes round and round...I dunno maybe they do it on purpose so you'll just give up.

    I was actually thinking of calling again today as it has been over a month. 

    This time I will ask for a replacement and see how that goes.

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-03-19T17:00:23+00:00

    Hi all, I haven't been given an official sanction to reply but I have been following and I don't think I'll get in trouble for saying this.

    Looks like the ball got dropped at some point with regards to the firmware update process. I worked with some people internally and the forced firmware update has been removed from Windows Update, which should prevent further issues.

    If you've had a camera that's been bricked due to the firmware update, please call the number Maneki Neko had posted and open a case. I would suggest pointing the support tech to this thread and requesting a replacement camera, as there's no way to recover it from the end-user perspective.

    I'll see if I can get some traction on tightening the loop on this process, but I probably shouldn't make promises until I get some official word.

    Yeah, we're slow sometimes, but we're watching and we're trying to do the right thing.

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