Okay I think it would be a good idea to review this problem, because a lot of people seem to be facing it.
Background
I have an HP Pavilion dv6137tx notebook computer (dv6000t series). It has an integrated webcam. The notebook is Vista-capable, but shipped with Windows XP Media Center Edition. I installed Windows Vista Home Premium Edition using the HP Express Upgrade Kit. I decided to come back to XP after using Vista for about 2.5 months. Now, in XP, my webcam does not work at all, despite having installed the HP Pavilion Webcam drivers downloads from the HP web site. The webcam shows up everywhere as "USB Video Device" rather than "HP Pavilion Webcam".
I have searched the forums for help, in vain. HP Tech Support keeps telling me to install drivers, uninstall them, do a full recovery and start over. These are things I have tried quite a few times.
(The webcam works in Vista, so there is no hardware fault.)
I suspect this is because of the firmware update that was necessary to get the camera to work in Vista. To quote the installation instruction sheet that shipped with the HP Express Upgrade Kit:
Quote:
If your computer includes an integrated camera, update the camera firmware to run under Windows Vista:
a. Use Windows Explorer to browse to the optical drive that contains the upgrade utility disc.
b. Double-click the HP Pavilion Webcam Driver folder.
c. Right click the file with the .exe extension, and select Run as administrator
d. Click OK when the wizard indicates that the firmware update is complete (if applicable).
e. Click Yes if asked to turn off power to the computer.
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Now, I think this firmware update (which is irreversible, unless someone can give me a firmware update which restores the webcam firmware to make it work in XP--as it was when the computer shipped) has rendered the camera unusable in Windows XP.
If you are facing a similar problem with your HP Pavilion notebook, please post back on this thread...maybe we can work something out.