inspiron 1545 integrated webcam not working

By geek2shiek

I have this same laptop with the same problem. The only way i got the webcam to work is when you have Webcam Central open and then plug in a USB device in your laptop like a USB mouse.  When the laptop detects the USB device the webcam gets dectected by Webcam Central. *** me off because I tried other people's reasonable solutions for hours with no luck. This was the only way I got it to work. Funny thing is the webcam is still detected by other programs like Yahoo Messenger while Webcam Central does not.

 Why is is it that so many people have this problem with the webcam? I still can't figure out how to fix this problem for good. Mebe im not not searching deep enough. =P

To geek2shiek from Savoirfaire:

THANKS!!! It works! Exactly as you say! I did´nt find your answer in the forum. This may be for other Dell users very helpful! :emotion-21:

Hello! Well I have the same problem with my laptop's webcam, I've also tried several solutions, and I discover that when you open Dell Video Chat and then you go to webcam settings, the webcam turns on. After you do this, open Dell Webcam Central and then this program asks you to close the other program (Dell Video Chat). After you finish all this quite long process, Webcam Central works.

If you have any idea of how we can solve for good this problem with the webcam, please let us know!!!!

HI,

      I too had the same problem.Suddenly my cam went  crazy showing my image in B&W. I tried even uninstalling my cam drivers.Later accidentally changed the cam settings in skype. The changes reflected in dell central cam driver too... So u people too try it..

All i did in skype is:

Increased the saturation.

Increased the brightness.

As i said earlier i got my cam fixed accidentally, i am not sure it solves the problem on cases!! Try your luck.

Um ok i haven't been back here for a while so this might help if you read this. The way i got the webcam to work is uninstall the newer version webcam drivers and use the old one.  go into the control panel and add/remover programs. and uninstall  its by creative webcam or something like that i forget.  It should work after that. Or you might have to go to device manager to to the webam and roll back drivers also.  Then in the windows update make sure hide the update for the webcam so it won't try to install the new drivers. So for some reason the newer drivers has a problem. But the webcam pretty much worked fine after that. That being said,

DON'T USE UPDATED DRIVERS FOR WEBCAM ON DELL INSPIRON 1545 (may be a lifesaver for many peeps with this problem who knows)

yes the above works tried it myself looks like the latest drivers are not compatible with the dell webcam software.

I spent some time on this.

Here is what is wrong:  The updated Creative driver fails completely, ergo you have to make sure when windows update runs, you DO NOT update with the creative driver.  These instructions are for 32 bit vista, this may vary with 64 bit vista or XP.

You can see which driver you currently have by going to control panel, "hardward and sound", Device Manager, Imaging Devices, and then finally ... Integrated WebCam.  Right mouse click and look at properties.  Look at the 'Driver' tab.  If it says Creative Computing or similar, you need to do a 'Update Driver' on the same screen.  In 'update driver', select 'Browse my computer for driver software'.  The pick 'let me from a list of device drivers on my computer' (or similar).  When the list appears, click on the USB Video Device driver, NOT the creative driver.  Go ahead and let the driver update complete.  Reoot the box and you should be good to go.

You can test by running the dell webcam software.  If it does not work... run the Dell Video Chat...go to settings | Camera.  If you do not see an image, you did not get the driver installed correctly, try rebooting and reinstalling the above Microsoft driver.

When installed correctly you will get a warning when you run the web cam.  I have not figured out a way to turn this off, but the webcam still works.

If this does not work, you may also try reinstalling the webcam software.  After installing, you will have to go back in and make sure the USB video device driver is installed.

Finally, I am posting this on 8/29/2009... I expect that Microsoft, Dell, or Creative will fix this at some point and the above will not be required but for now thats what works.

OK, I've done a bad thing trying out suggestions in this forum to get my webcam to work again by accidently uninstalling "a necessary entry" in my Creative Live! webcam software for my Inspiron 1545.  Does anyone know the model of the integrated webcam installed by Dell in the Inspiron 1545?  I went to the Creative website and to get the proper software, you need to know the model number.  I tried the plugging/unplugging USB device; Device Manager-Imaging Devices-Drivers downloads; enabling my webcam through Device Manager; but I really messed up when I uninstalled whatever program that was.  Any ideas on this one?

Hi,

You've uninstalled a critic program for the webcam. I think you should try one of the following solutions:

1. Check the DVD with all the programs for your laptop and search for the webcam driver and install it. I guess that your computer included several discs in case you have to restore your computer.

2. Open Dell Support Center and look for the option to download drivers.

3. Go to dell.com and click on "drivers and downloads" then enter the service tag of your computer and click on "Input Device Drivers".

I hope one of these options can help you solve the problem.

Hey,

I'm also facing almost the exact problem.....:(

Have you come across any solution??? Please share.....

Well Digitalblankness, I'm not really qualified to give advice, but I can tell you what I did and what my research has taught me.  It seems the updated drivers put out by CreativeLive! create a problem.  My webcam stopped working for no apparent reason; someone suggested uninstalling updated drivers; I unistalled something that got me in trouble; then from a sugesstion on the forum (I think from a Dell rep) I used my "Utilities and Drivers" DVD that came with my computer and reinstalled the driver for the integrated webcam.  After inserting the DVD, select "Drivers" from the menu and then select the "Input Drivers: Creative Labs....Camera".  When I selected this, a window popped up that said "the necessary drivers are already installed, do I want to reinstall anyway?" and I said "Yes".  After reinstallation, my camera started working and I have not been updating drivers.

Before doing this, you may want to go to your "Device Manager" and make sure your camera is "enabled".  In my attempts to get my camera working, I saw my camera was disabled, but I don't know why that happened either.  Enabling it did not get it working though.  Also, before reinstallation of the Input Driver, in Device Manager-Imaging Devices, the camera was showing as "Creative Live! Camera".  After reinstalling the driver, under imaging devices "Creative Live! Camera" is there as well as "Integrated Webcam".  I thought they were one-in-the-same, but they are showing as two devices.  I'm just glad my camera is working again.

somebody please help me if they find a solution for why my webcam only works on sites like stickam an messenger an things like tht.......i barley got this inspiron 1545 an the cam doesnt work right anymore!!! also i dunno if you guys are having this too but a box keeps popping up asking me if i want to run the scripts?? is tht related..its rele annoying an never goes away. im rele computer stupid so please help me.i mainly want the webcam central settings box to come back up.it never comes up wen i use my cam anymore.an i can only use my cam on messengeer sites =[

somebody please help me if they find a solution for why my webcam only works on sites like stickam an messenger an things like tht.......i barley got this inspiron 1545 an the cam doesnt work right anymore!!! also i dunno if you guys are having this too but a box keeps popping up asking me if i want to run the scripts?? is tht related..its rele annoying an never goes away. im rele computer stupid so please help me.i mainly want the webcam central settings box to come back up.it never comes up wen i use my cam anymore.an i can only use my cam on messengeer sites =[

Hi

I have the same problem, I have tried rolling back drivers and also re installing from the supplied DVD with no (permanent) solution.

Like the rest of you it works on Skype or if I use a USB Port, even with an empty memory stick., even then though it seems to me that the image is very grainy and although I can adjust it in Skype it is still not very good. The image when I first got the computer was crystal clear.

The first post on this thread was back in April so come on Dell it's time you got your collective fingers out and sorted the problem!

Duncan

Hey,

I just bought an Inspiron 1545 a couple of days back but had to purchase it DOS installed and so you know th problem - dint have any of the drivers or software cds. :(

The drivers, I managed to get from the Dell support website but I am in dire need of the Webcam Central or the Webcam Manager software to access my webcam. Please do help. Would be ever so grateful.

Vidya

Try this

http://dell-webcam-central.software.informer.com/   

Duncan