laptop webcam not working after driver reinstallation

[humbugger]

My webcam disappeared from my laptop (Medion p6624) recently so I went to the manufacturer website to reinstall the drivers. However, upon doing that my webcam still does not work. Any suggestions?

[simplicity96]

Is the hardware still showing under device manager?

[humbugger]

nope!

[simplicity96]

It might be you have a failed webcam. It should show as a unknown device at least waiting for a driver. It may be its showing under the USB devices but it should show somewhere. If the computer isnt picking it up a bit of faulty hardware is possible.

You could try something like speccy which gives a breakdown of your connected hardware see if that picks it up. http://www.piriform.com/speccy

[SUMMONER]

Backup your data and then do a Windows recovery to factory default, if still doesn't show after that it will likely be a fault with the webcam/connection cable.

A replacement webcam/cable should be < £15 used off Ebay, assuming you are happy to open the display assembly/main body of the laptop to replace them.

[stilkun]

Sounds like the webcam hardware has failed or it could be loose or broken cable connection but it could be software or operating system issue that can cause it. Like SUMMONER said, back up your data and reinstall to factory default. The reason for this is that Windows can sometimes mess up and no longer see or detect hardware so doing a factory restore will confirm whether it is the operating system or it is hardware itself that is the issue.

You can purchase as USB webcam if you are not confident enough in replacing the webcam.