My shop's been flooded with laptops that have black screen webcams

It used to be maybe one a month, but now I get several every few days. I guess with everyone on video calls more, these problems show up. After tinkering, I found it's usually a clash with the latest security patch. Got a routine down to sort it in under ten minutes. Feels pretty solid to solve something that was becoming a regular annoyance.

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_flores283mo ago

Spot the same thing at my place. Started checking the Windows Update history on every black screen cam ticket. Nine times out of ten it's that KB5034441 patch messing with the camera driver. My move is a system restore to before the update, then a driver rollback. Sometimes you gotta dive into the BIOS and toggle the camera privacy setting off and on to wake it up. Saves so much time now that I know the pattern.

emma_wood3mo ago

That BIOS toggle trick is legit. I do the same restore and rollback steps but hadn't tried the privacy setting reset until last week. Honestly it's the fastest fix once you know the update is the cause.

bettykim3mo ago

Wonder if you noticed any pattern in when these updates roll out, like right after Patch Tuesday?