No Driver Found for Old Webcam

Symptoms:

I plugged in and old USB webcam, but Windows did not recognize the device because there were no local drivers compatible with it.

Gathering Information:

First I clicked the help link in the error pop-up window (pictured above) that said “What can I do if my device did not install correctly?”. I read that if I am connected to the internet Windows Update will search for drivers in a much larger online database.

It also said that if this was unsuccessful, to go to the hardware manufacturers website and download the driver from them directly.

 

I also found an article (click here to view) on pctipsbox.com which explained that if both of these fail I can manually search the internet for a compatible driver using the hardware id of the device.

Hypothesis:

H1. Use Windows Update to automatically find the driver online.

H2. Look up the webcam’s manufacturer website and download the driver from there.

H3. Do an internet search using the hardware ID as the key word and see if any drivers come up in the search results.

Results:

H1 was rejected. I connected to the internet, and allowed Windows to search its online driver database, but it still found no compatible driver.

H2 was rejected. Upon studying the device more closely I found that it had no branding whatsoever. I had no way of knowing the manufacturer and therefore could not  locate the manufacturers website to download a compatible driver.

H3 was successful. I found the steps at this site: http://www.pctipsbox.com/how-to-search-for-hardware-device-drivers-download-more-effectively/

1. Plug in your device first and ignore any windows message like unknown device detected.

2. Now open device manger control panel>>administrative tools >>computer management>>device manager.

3. Right Click on the Hardware device and go to properties in the context menu.

4. Now click the details tab and choose ‘Hardware Id‘, select the last a entry copy it into the clip board and use this to search from any search engine you like to get all the information about that hardware device and download links for the hardware device.

I found my driver at driverguide.com (http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=1264180)

Reflection:

These steps don’t only apply to webcams, but to any unrecognized plug and play hardware. H1-H3 can be tried in order, but you should rarely, if ever, end up needing to test H3.

Computer Security at Home

At school or at work most of us find that great measures are taken to secure information and maintain computer functionality. On the other hand, when we go home, most of us do little or nothing to secure our own personal computers and the information they hold from threats of data loss, attacks, or novice users. For instance, in my home we run no automated backups; we use an unencrypted wireless network; and most computers log on automatically with no password as an administrator. Throughout this blog post I will explain what I have learned about these security holes and what I will be doing to patch them. I will focus on three main points, those being (1) backups, (2) network security, and (3) user account permissions.

Everyone has information on their computer that they would consider important. I have a home recording studio, so for me the important things are the audio and project files associated with the songs I write. The truth is all hard drives go bad eventually and sometime files are corrupted by malicious code or programing errors. I have not up to this point done anything to back up my data. I realize it is inevitable that data loss will happen so I have decided to buy an external hard drive to back-up to. I will then put this back up elsewhere to keep it protected against theft and natural harm. (PCMAG.COM)

As far as my wireless network goes, I just need to require a password to use the wireless network. If I fail to do this, other people could park outside my house and access my personal files. They could delete them or get information about me to potentially steal my identity. (identitytheftfixes.com)

Finally I need to require passwords on all computers. And when I let others use my computer I need to log them in with a non-administrator account so that they cannot purposefully or accidentally destroy my data. (Microsoft)

In the future as I make these three things a consistent practice I will protect myself from the headaches of data loss. Also I won't have to worry about having important information stolen. Employing these practices will not only protect me, but everyone that uses the computers on my home network.