Accidentally Uninstalled Biometric using Device Manager and its not coming back

Anonymous
2019-01-10T04:37:08+00:00

Hello,

I seem to have permanently deleted the "biometric devices" category in the Device Manger. Windows Hello using a biometric device no longer works. 

I have a home built desktop with a Mouse Cm-01a Window Hello camera. It was working very well for about a year. Some combination of the 1809 update and new AMD Graphics Card Drivers stopped it from working consistently.

I began trying to roll back graphics card drivers and do other troubleshooting. I even performed a recovery and it did not solve the issue. I read that I could uninstall the camera and have Windows reinstall the drivers. When this didn't work, I attempted to uninstall biometric devices and have it reinstall the divers. Unfortunately this category has never returned.

Now my Window Hello setting in Sign-in options says "Face and fingerprint recognition are not available on this device".

I have tried a lot of the steps you would see from other troubleshooting sites (edit group policy settings, restart the Windows Biometric Service), but no luck. 

I'm at my wits end here. I would rather not have to do another restore (that state wasn't working perfectly well as it was). Perhaps I have to do a Repair Install. Let me know if I have any other options (or if I just need to bite the bullet). Thanks!

Here are some system stats:

Processor: Intel i5-4690

RAM 16 GB

OS: Windows 10 Pro

Version: 1809

Build: 17763.253 (I am in the release preview track)

GPU: Radeon RX 580 Series (XFX brand)

Radeon Software Version: 18.40.21.06

Edit: Some of the responses have asked that I contact the manufacturer. Unfortunately, that would be me since this is a home-built desktop. I will see if I can find anything through Intel or ASRock (motherboard manufacturer).

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Windows Hello, lock screen and sign-in

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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  1. Anonymous
    2021-09-26T23:51:52+00:00

    THANK YOU SO MUCH! this is the only comment that fixed the biometric driver that i accidentally uninstalled! however, windows hello face still crashes when I try to set it up. Still, thank you for bringing back the lost driver!

    HI

    if you figure out how to stop crash windows hello setup,then tell us to know

    thanks

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  2. Anonymous
    2021-09-21T07:18:32+00:00

    THANK YOU SO MUCH! this is the only comment that fixed the biometric driver that i accidentally uninstalled! however, windows hello face still crashes when I try to set it up. Still, thank you for bringing back the lost driver!

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  3. Anonymous
    2021-09-01T13:51:53+00:00

    You have no idea how much I appreciate this fix. Have tried all other fixes found elsewhere and this is the one that got my biometric drivers installed again. Thank you so much!

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-07-17T19:05:24+00:00

    I don't know about what Thunderbolt says. He appears very knowledgeable. All I can stand behind is what I posted as my Fix, above on June 20, 2021. THANKS!! E L

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-07-17T18:45:07+00:00

    Launch PowerShell as an administrator:

    Before executing the command to reinstall the HelloFace driver, you have to change the current working directory in PowerShell.
    For this, execute the command cd followed by the targeted directory.
    For your convenience, we have written the complete command below. You just have to copy it and paste it into the PowerShell:

    cd C:\Windows\System32\WinBioPlugIns\FaceDriver

    Now, type the following command and press Enter. This will remove the HelloFace driver:

    pnputil.exe /delete-driver .\HelloFace.inf

    Now, you have to reinstall the HelloFace driver. For this type the following command in the PowerShell and hit Enter:

    pnputil.exe /add-driver .\HelloFace.inf /install

    Wait till the installation process gets completed.

    Open the Device Manager. It should show the Biometric device driver now.

    100% WORKING!!

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    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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