INSTALL  A  WEBCAM  -  DRIVERS  ONLY

This section will teach you how to install your new webcam using the Windows Vista Hardware Wizard and your webcam's Installation CD. Once installed, I will then show you how to adjust the webcam's settings. The idea of this section is to introduce you to installing hardware using the Hardware Wizard - The webcam's Installation CD is only needed for the webcam's Driver (hardware installation) files.

When you buy a new WebCam the first thing you should do is Read the Installation Instructions, which normally suggest that you install the WebCam CD first and then connect the webcam to the computer (using its USB cable) afterwards. That is the "Proper" (Idiot Proof) way, which is good if you want to install the Video Recording software and Photo Emailing software that is normally a part of the CD installation as well but not good if you only want to use the webcam to "Chit-Chat" using Windows Live Messenger for example. Although CD installations are getting better with time, by allowing you to choose which components to install, if do not have any such CD installation options and/or want an installation that does not bloat your hard drive with already installed components I would suggest installing your webcam as follows.

Insert your WebCam CD into the CD Drive and then shutdown (exit) any software windows that appear from that WebCam CD. This ensures nothing, at this point, is installed from the WebCam CD. Next. Connect the WebCam to the computer using a spare USB socket. When you have done this Windows Vista should acknowledge the connection with the following message.



Fig 1.0  Windows Vista should acknowledge when you plug your webcam into a USB socket

The gray icon with the green rotating circle, in the notification area, is the Hardware Installation icon. Anytime you install new hardware, such as a WebCam, you should always wait for the hardware installation icon to disappear before using the hardware. The disappearance means the hardware is ready for use. This kind of installation is called Plug & Play - You plug in the hardware. Windows Vista installs it. And you are then ready to use (Play with) the hardware. However, many webcams are not built with Plug & Play technology. They are more of a Plug & Detect technology. Like in this example. The webcam was plugged in and then detected by the Windows Vista Hardware Wizard. It was not automatically installed by Windows Vista. Hence why the Hardware Wizard appeared (below).


Fig 1.1  Select the LOCATE AND INSTALL DRIVER SOFTWARE option to continue

This first window of the hardware wizard (Fig 1.1 above) is asking you what you want to do? LOCATE AND INSTALL DRIVER SOFTWARE, ASK ME AGAIN LATER or DO NOT SHOW THIS MESSAGE AGAIN FOR THIS DEVICE. The hardware wizard is recommending (in blue glowing highlight) its default (normal) option of ASK ME AGAIN LATER but for this example you should select (click on) the LOCATE AND INSTALL DRIVER SOFTWARE option, because you want to use the hardware wizard to manually or automatically locate the Driver (hardware installation) files and then have those driver files installed. If you prefer to cancel the installation process simply click on the CANCEL button.

After selecting the LOCATE AND INSTALL DRIVER SOFTWARE option a UAC (User Account Control) security requester will appear.



Fig 1.2  Click on the CONTINUE button to continue

User Account Control (UAC) is a feature of Windows Vista that helps to prevent unauthorized changes to the computer, such as deleting a system file or installing hardware. When attempting to install a webcam UAC automatically blocks you off with the above requester, because it wants to know if you are the one attempting to install the hardware and not a piece of malicious software for example. In the above case simply click on the CONTINUE button to continue, or on the CANCEL button to cancel the installation process.


Fig 1.3  Select the DON'T SEARCH ONLINE option to continue

The next window (above) asks you how you would like to locate the webcam's Driver (hardware installation) files? ALWAYS SEARCH ONLINE, SEARCH ONLINE THIS TIME ONLY or DON'T SEARCH ONLINE. The hardware wizard is recommending (in blue glowing highlight) its default (normal) option of ALWAYS SEARCH ONLINE but for this example you should select (click on) the DON'T SEARCH ONLINE option, because you want to use the hardware wizard to manually or automatically locate the Driver (hardware installation) files from your webcam's Installation CD and not from the Internet. Again, if you prefer to cancel the installation process at this point simply click on the CANCEL button.


Fig 1.4  Select the BROWSE MY COMPUTER FOR DRIVER SOFTWARE option to continue

In Fig 1.4 above the hardware wizard has stated that it could not find the webcam's driver files simply because it was told in Fig 1.3 not to search online for them. However. This does not mean the hardware wizard has quit on you, it just means it has to follow another procedure in order to locate and install the driver files. A procedure you know you are following - The manually-locate procedure. So to continue click on the BROWSE MY COMPUTER FOR DRIVER SOFTWARE option, instead of the hardware wizard's blue glowing recommendation of CHECK FOR A SOLUTION, so that you can browse (search) your computer for the driver files.


Fig 1.5  BROWSE for the location of your webcam Driver files, if need be. Otherwise, click on NEXT to continue.

The hardware wizard's default Pathname (searching place) is your CD/DVD Drive, hence why my DVD Drive (assigned the letter D) is the default pathname in this example (Fig 1.5 above). If you are not happy with the default pathname, perhaps because you have downloaded your webcam's driver files from the Internet into your Downloads folder for example, you have the option of browsing for another location (pathname). An example of using the BROWSE option is given in the BROWSE FOR DRIVER FILES section, below. In the meantime, following this example, it is assumed that your CD/DVD Drive is the hardware wizard's default pathname too. Therefore, click on the NEXT button to continue.

The main reason for doing a manual search is because you know where the driver files are on the Installation CD - Usually in the Drivers folder. Another reason for doing a manual search is when you might not have an Installation CD but have downloaded the driver files into your Downloads folder for example, and so know the location of those driver files.


Fig 1.6  Searching the pathname (i.e CD/DVD Drive) for any necessary Driver files....

After clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 1.5 above) the hardware wizard begins to search your pathname (i.e CD/DVD Drive - Fig 1.6 above) for the necessary Driver files, which it installs automatically if it finds any.


Fig 1.7  ....Installing found Driver files....



Fig 1.8  ....The driver files have been successfully installed.

Figures 1.6 to 1.8 show the remaining part of the installation. When the driver files have been successfully installed (Fig 1.8 above) simply click on the CLOSE button to finish the installation process. Remember what I said at the beginning of this example. Always wait for the hardware installation icon, in the notification area (Fig 1.9 below), to disappear before using the hardware.



Fig 1.9  Wait for the Successful message to disappear before using the webcam

If your hardware cannot be installed, perhaps because it is faulty or you disconnected it too early or you have the wrong driver files for it, you will probably see the following error message.



Fig 1.10  Do not unplug any hardware until it has been successfully installed

Another thing to remember, speaking generally, is that not all installations can be Cancelled by clicking on a CANCEL button. The installation process might of gone too far whereby clicking on a CANCEL button has no affect and you are forced to continue with the installation. So think carefully before installing. For example. "Do I really have enough time to install this hardware?"....If not, do not start the installation at all. Wait until you can give the installation 100% of your time.

BROWSE  FOR  DRIVER  FILES

In some cases you may need to download/install Driver files yourself. This is normally when you have bought a piece of hardware, such as a WebCam, from someone who did not supply you with the Installation CD. In that case you normally go to the website of the hardware's manufacturer (i.e www.logitech.com) to see if they have a Driver Installation file for your hardware. If they have you can download the Driver Installation file from their website and store it inside a folder on your computer. Once downloaded/stored you then have to install or extract that Driver Installation file, depending on its file format.

A Driver Installation file is normally a .zip (compressed) file or an .exe (executable/launchable) file, but either way it normally contains between 2 and 25 Driver files. To extract the driver files from the driver installation file you simply double click on the driver installation file and follow its instructions - It normally asks you which folder you want the driver files to be stored in and if it is an .exe driver installation file it might even install the hardware for you, after the driver files have been extracted into the folder of your choice. So as much as possible download an .exe driver installation file.

With your Driver files in a known location, known because you either have the driver files on a CD or inside a folder of your choice, you are now ready to use BROWSE. In this next example I will use the driver files from an Installation CD, but the same applies even if I had downloaded and then extracted the driver files into my Downloads folder. This is because at the end of day the BROWSE Edit Box (Fig 1.5 above) is only wanting the pathname to the folder containing the driver files - When you click on the BROWSE button (Fig 1.5 above) and select the folder containing the driver files, from the folder requester that appears, the pathname of that folder is what is entered into the BROWSE Edit Box.

 
Fig 2.0  Click on the BROWSE button to continue

Fig 2.1  Select the folder containing the Driver files

Start by clicking on the BROWSE button (Fig 2.0 above). This will bring up a Folder Requester (Fig 2.1 above) that wants you to select the folder containing the Driver files. In this example I have navigated towards my D: Drive (DVD Drive), which has my webcam's Installation CD inside it, and then expanded the folder view (by clicking on the D: Drive's white triangle, which then turns black) so that I could select the DRIVERS folder. From there I clicked on the OK button to continue. This then inserted the pathname of the DRIVERS folder into the BROWSE Edit Box (Fig 2.2 below). Clicking on the NEXT button (Fig 2.2 below) will continue the installation process from Figures 1.6 to 1.9 above.

In my folder view (Fig 2.1 above) you can see my webcam's Installation CD has a number of choice folders. Meaning. If I did not know which folder to select I might of chosen (selected) the SETUP folder or the QUICKCAM folder. It is good the installation cd had a folder called DRIVERS on it. Saying this though, I have played safe by selecting the DRIVERS folder. The actual Driver files are inside one of DRIVER's sub-folders (BIN, X32 or X64), but as I do not know which sub-folder I played safe by selecting the DRIVER's folder. This means the Hardware Wizard will be the one to scan through each of DRIVER's sub-folders in order to find the correct Driver files for my webcam.

If I wanted to know for sure which sub-folder to select, for future use, I would have to do a BROWSE on each sub-folder until the hardware wizard installed the correct Driver files. I did this and found the correct sub-folder to be the X32 sub-folder. However. Upon more research, I found that the X32 sub-folder had three sub-folders of its own (ELCH, IM and PRO3). After a little more BROWSEing I found the IM sub-folder to be the correct sub-folder.


Fig 2.2  The pathname has been inserted into the BROWSE Edit Box - Click on NEXT to continue.

If you select a folder that turns out not to contain the Driver files for your hardware you will see the following error messages (Figures 2.3 to 2.5). In that case you can click on the CLOSE button (Fig 2.3) to exit the installation process or go back to the BROWSE window, by clicking on the blue BACK (Left-Arrow) button, to select a different folder. If you do go back to the BROWSE window, close/exit the second error message window (Fig 2.4) by clicking on its red EXIT button only.


Fig 2.3  Click on the CLOSE button to exit the installation process



Fig 2.4  Click on DON'T CHECK ONLINE; I'LL SET UP THIS DEVICE LATER to install the Driver files later




Fig 2.5  The Hardware Wizard could not find/install any Driver files for the hardware device

If you prefer to exit the installation process, by clicking on the CLOSE button of error message one (Fig 2.3 above), you then have the choice of what to do later - CHECK ONLINE FOR A SOLUTION LATER or DON'T CHECK ONLINE; I'LL SET UP THIS DEVICE LATER. Clicking on DON'T CHECK ONLINE; I'LL SET UP THIS DEVICE LATER means you can go to Device Manager afterwards, via the Control Panel, and then update (re-browse for) the hardware's Driver files.


Fig 2.6  Update the hardware's Driver files, later, by using Device Manager's UPDATE DRIVER SOFTWARE option

A word of caution: DO NOT assume that just because the hardware wizard has installed Driver files from your selected folder that all is well. All could be wrong/bad, later. The hardware wizard is only installing from the folder you selected. It would not necessary know if there was to be a side-affect from installing the Driver files. For example. Suppose you have WebCam G110 but do not have the installation cd for it and cannot find any driver installation file for it on the Internet, but you do have a friend's WebCam G117 installation cd to hand. Installing the G117 driver files for your G110 webcam might work, because they are identical webcams from the same manufacturer, but then again those driver files might give your computer and/or G110 webcam one or more side-affects. So always make sure you know what Driver files you are using, where they came from and more importantly which folder to select.



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