topic Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m in PCs & Accessories

Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

bigolie — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 09:45:25 GMT

Hi, my camera works with skype, but when I try to use it with vaio camera capture utility or messenger, it does not work and says it is being used by another program?

Can anyone help me on this.

Thanks

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

Blencogo — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:37:28 GMT

Hi bigolie,

This seems to have become a common problem. We have asked Sony to investigate but no workable solution has yet been found. We are all hoping for a fix soon.

Have you tried: -

1. Installing Microsoft Hotfix KB931812 which is specifically for this problem. However, it will not install on everyone's vaio. )I have attached this hotfix at the bottom of this post)

2. The camera appears to work 'once per session' and will work with only the first application opened. You should be able to re-boot and use another application - but check Skype does not open automatically at startup and grab the camera.

3. The big suspicion is that it is VISTA's User Account Control that is causing the problem. Try turning UAC off as an experiment - you can always turn it on again ater you have tried it.
Press the Windows key on the left of your keyboard and press R

Type in the command
MSCONFIG
and press OK -> Continue.

Open the Tab “Tools” and scroll down to ‘Disable UAC’ and click Launch. At the black screen, click OK and restart your Vaio.

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

bigolie — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:14:51 GMT

Thanks a lot, worked like a charm now uac is disabled, also now boots up faster and runs quicker overall.

Three cheers

Hip hip horray :smileygrin:

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

Blencogo — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 09:23:37 GMT

That's excellent news bigolie .............

............. as long as you accept that there is a small security risk to disabling UAC ?????

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

bigolie — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 12:53:19 GMT

What security risk it that?

Other users on the computer can do anything?

I hope there is not an internet based risk/threat.

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

gerbil123 — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 13:30:21 GMT

this has just happened to me tooo!!!!!!!! i've only had this laptop a week but it seems absolutely riddled with bugs and is driving me completely insane! i'm no tecchie so the advice you gave to bigolie doesn't really mean a lot to me! in laymans terms..what do i need to do to fix this? thanks

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

Blencogo — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:44:41 GMT

In XP a basic user was assumed to be an Administrator and could change anything on the computer. You can create a limited user account - they will not have the privelidges to change system properties.

In Vista, User Account Control basically ensures that EVERY user, including the Computer Administrator, runs as a limited account. Administrators will get that very annoying pop-up window asking you for further confirmation every time you try to run a program or change a system property. On limited accounts it will ask for an administrator password.

When Vista was introduced, most experienced users considered this unacceptable and turned UAC off. It is still considered one of the things that will have to be changed if Vista is ever to achieve universal acceptance.

However, it does have a possible security benefit. It means that any Malware or Spyware that tries to install on your computer or tries to run an unauthorised script will trigger the same warning prompt and if you are wide awake, you can prevent it running by not agreeing to run unknown code.

A good Firewall, Anti-Virus and anti-spyware should minimise the risk but it is still a possibility.

It has to be your decision to turn off UAC. I would not usually recommend it but as the risks are low and it seems to be the only way to get the camera to work, you may find this acceptable. The risk is the same as running XP on your PC rather than Vista. I think I would disable it if it was interfering with anything I wanted to do!

Have a read here: -

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/0eeb9ddd-ddaa-4cc5-a092-9908305665471033.mspx

Re: Help!!! Camera not working fz11m

Blencogo — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 17:56:28 GMT

Hi gerbil123,
If you are happy to accept the small increased risks to get your camera working, just turn off UAC on your Vaio like this: -

Press the Windows key on the left of your keyboard and press R
Type in the command
MSCONFIG
and press OK -> Continue.
Open the Tab “Tools” and scroll down to ‘Disable UAC’ and click Launch. At the black screen, click OK and restart your Vaio.

If not (and to be fair you should not have to) contact Sony Support to see if they have any other solutions yet.