We couldn't find a camera compatible with Windows Hello Face

Does Windows Hello face appear in Optional Updates, following the Video to access it in Settings > Apps > Apps & Features > Optional Features > Windows Hello Face - either under Installed Feature or Add a Feature?

Which driver did you uninstall in Device Manager which hasn't appeared back? Did you follow the steps in video to install it from C:\Windows > System 32 > WinBIOSplugins > Face driver?

You mentioned something about not being able to find driver without bundleware, but where is it suggesting to get it outside of Windows where it should already be installed in System32 folder and needs reinstall from there as the video shows?

If not there then the driver needs to come from the PC manufacturer's Support Downloads webpage for your exact model:

https://pcsupport.lenovo.com/us/en/products/lap...

Try the automatic driver update using lenovo Bridge. Then try manually updating drivers. If that fails the next step is to contact Lenovo.

You said Lenovo told you it needed to be restored to factory condition and that you cannot do this. Can you explain why? I am the author of the Clean Install tutorials that popularized them with millions of consumers since Windows 7, so i can advise you on how to do this no matter how prohibitive it sounds. For example, if you think you have software that's not replaceable, it always is because consumers want to reinstall as often as they please and companies that don't make this easy go out of business quickly.

Your files of course should already be backed up if you value them at all. Here are easy free backup suggestions to make sure such a risk isn't unnecessarily taken: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

I would recontact Lenovo and ask what specific recovery they suggest in order to be sure to get the Hello device drivers. I can help you do that once you get this answer, or if you're still under warranty they should either help you or do it for you.

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back, I will have other suggestions if necessary.

____________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

As you have noticed, I am the only person in this thread that actually listened to you and give you useful advice so far.

Next time when you have problems, don't do these things:

1. don't follow very old advice (your initial post linking to a forum post from 2017). Follow 6 year old advice is always wrong.
2. never listen to anyone who doesn't ask any questions but then tell you to either delete or revert to an old driver. The first question asked should be what driver version you have and can I find you a newer driver. Reverting to an older driver without first trying to find a newer driver first is always wrong.
3. never listen to anyone who just randomly listed a bunch of weblinks that doesn't do anything. That youtube video (paused at 5:38), you will see that this guy doesn't even have an infrared camera in his laptop (HP wide vision hd is just a normal webcam) and he is giving a video tutorial on the subject that he knows nothing about. His video never showed that he fixed the issue because he never had an infrared camera to begin with so the warning statement "we couldn't find a compatible camera" is correct.

You can try actually uninstalling your 2 cameras in the device manager, reboot and let your computer to reinstall the 2 cameras --- hopefully triggering the computer into reinstalling the windows hello face software device. Please paused bitlocker when you tried this.

https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/Face-recognition-stopped-working/td-p/7772495

If the computer doesn't reinstall the 2 camera automatically --- then re-install the oem lenovo driver (10.13.19041.28) first and then update the driver (10.13.22000.21) from the weblink I posted afterward. It's a 2 step process that all post 2018 DCH drivers (where graphics/audio/touchpad configuration app is downloaded from the Microsoft store) have to do or else really bad things could happen as stated by Intel.

Can I Use the 'INF/Have-disk installation’ for a Windows*... (intel.com)

Notice I never told you to delete stuff or revert to old drivers or uninstall stuff until all other options have been tried.

Hello Greg,

Thanks for the message. I tried all that. Here's a few notes along the way of doing them:

1. Thegeekpage, I skipped the driver things as that's what I've already been doing for quite some time (see earlier messages for more details.)
2. I have the optional feature named "Windows Hello Face" installed but not one named "Facial Recognition (Windows Hello)". Now I uninstalled and reinstalled "Windows Hello Face" as advised in the YouTube video but that didn't solve the problem.
3. Windows Biometric Service is running and set to be started automatically. I stopped it for the duration of deleting the contents C:\Windows\System32\WinBioDatabase. That did not solve the problem.
4. System file checker said it found and fixed something, but that did not solve the problem.
5. Reinstalling Face Driver either did not really do anything or did it very quickly as it just gave a messagebox saying "completed" or something like that.
6. I think the contents behind the Lenovo link did not apply to my system.
7. The partitionwizard link did not contain anything new after the previous steps.
8. The YouTube video suggests the Device Manager item I have said before I uninstalled which does not appear back could have been "Windows Hello Face Software Device". I did not find a place where to get it safely and without bundleware.

Hello Ilja. I'm Greg, here to help you with this.

Try these fixes for We couldn't find a camera compatible with Windows Hello Face:

https://thegeekpage.com/we-couldnt-find-a-camer...

https://forums.lenovo.com/t5/ThinkPad-X-Series-...

https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmanage...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aut3o6aoTtk

Feel free to ask back any questions. Based on the results you post back, I will have other suggestions if necessary.

____________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

That's right, after turning off bitlocker and restarting, the firmware update was able to finish.

However, Windows Hello Face still does not start but gives the same error message as before "We couldn't find a camera compatible with Windows Hello Face". I believe that is because of the missing item with "Hello" in its name from Device Manager, because when I uninstalled that according to the instruction given in another message thread in this forum, that error message started to appear. Bummer I can't recall the item's entire name but I think it was listed under Biometric devices. I believe I still have a backup image from the time before the uninstallation. Do you think it would make sense to restore to that image and take some files from there? If so, what exactly should I do when I am there in order for the visit to be useful? I cannot stay there for long as I need the installations made and other data saved after that date.