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Integrated Camera Not detected by Windows (not working)

Zunayed 45 Reputation points
2026-05-31T07:32:15.4633333+00:00

Laptop model: HP ZBook Firefly 15 G7.

So initially, everything worked fine, but about a week ago (possibly up to two weeks at most), the camera completely stopped working. Before this, Windows Hello facial recognition worked normally, the red IR light would blink during face detection, and the camera worked perfectly in the Camera app and WhatsApp.

I'm not sure what exactly triggered the issue (e.g., a Windows update or something else), but it appea within the last 1–2 weeks. Now, the camera is not detected at all not even in devicr manager, and the infrared sensors no longer activate. Aside from this issue, the laptop seems to function normally.

Here are the troubleshooting steps I've already tried:

  • At first I checked Device Manager and found an Unknown Device under Other Devices tab with no driver installed. So I downloaded and installed the official webcam driver from HP's website (HP Universal webcam Driver or similar) for my laptop. The driver package contained two driver sources: Realtek and another one beginning with "Sun" (I don't remember the full name).Installed the Realtek driver successfully, but after restarting, the camera still didn't work.Attempted to install the other driver, but the installer aborted with a "Device not found" message.Uninstalled the Realtek driver via Command Prompt and tried installing the other driver again; same result.
  • Used Device Manager to search for drivers automatically and manually by pointing it towards the folders but that didn't help although not so confident with the process regarding manual search so i could have made a mistake causing it to not find anything in that source folder. I also checked the optional updates in windows update but also no luck
  • Tried HP Support Assistant. It previously showed an update for the webcam driver, but that update later disappeared according to a pop up message that came up after searching for the updates when i checked the updates tab, leaving only unrelated updates (mostly graphics driver related).

Note: I also Enabled Show hidden devices in Device Manager throughout the whole process but found nothing useful.

One additional detail: Device Manager also shows a USB-related error called "Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)." Not so sure how helpful this info is.

I have not yet run any SFC or DISM scans. At this point, I'm leaning toward the camera hardware being damaged, but I want to confirm whether this is truly a hardware failure or if there's still a software/driver issue that could be causing it.

That's everything I've tried so far, at least everything I can remember. I'm out of ideas at this point. Let me know if you need any additional information, and thanks for your help. Also im running latest version of windows 11 (25h2)

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers
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Answer accepted by question author

Hendrix-V 15,345 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
2026-06-01T07:05:26.33+00:00

Hi Zunayed,

If the integrated camera does not appear in Device Manager at all, Windows is not detecting the hardware. This is usually caused by a hardware-level disable - BIOS setting or a missing low-level driver.

Here are some targeted checking steps that you can try at this point:

1, Check BIOS / UEFI

  • Confirm “Integrated Camera” is enabled
  • Save and reboot

2, Install correct drivers from your laptop manufacturer

  • Camera driver
  • Intel Imaging / MIPI / Visual Sensing driver (if listed)

3, In Device Manager

  • Run “Scan for hardware changes”
  • Try “Add legacy hardware > Cameras”

If the camera still does not appear anywhere after this, it typically indicates a hardware-level issue (connection or camera module).

Let me know if you need any further help. Feel free to ask by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Reply" if you are unable to add a comment, so that your reply is visible. I appreciate your effort.

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  1. AI answer

    2026-05-31T07:32:48.66+00:00

    Based on the described behavior and the available guidance, the situation matches a “camera not detected” case that is very likely hardware- or firmware-level rather than a simple driver issue, especially because:

    • The integrated camera no longer appears under Cameras or Imaging devices in Device Manager, even with Show hidden devices enabled.
    • Vendor-specific drivers report “Device not found” during installation.
    • Windows only shows an Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed), which indicates Windows cannot even read the basic USB descriptor from the device.

    From the available guidance, the remaining software-side checks are:

    1. Confirm camera access and app permissions (in case the device reappears after any change):
      1. Open Start > Settings > Privacy & security > Camera.
      2. Make sure Camera access is turned on.
      3. Make sure Let apps access your camera is turned on.
      4. If using desktop apps (Teams, browsers, etc.), ensure Allow desktop apps to access your camera is turned on.
    2. Test with the built-in Camera app to rule out app-specific issues:
      1. Open Start > Camera and check if there is any preview.
      2. If the Camera app cannot find a camera at all, this confirms a system-level detection problem rather than a single app issue.
    3. Run the Windows camera troubleshooter:
      1. Open Start > Settings > System.
      2. Go to Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
      3. Run the Camera troubleshooter and apply any fixes it suggests.
    4. Check for Windows updates and optional driver updates:
      1. Go to Start > Settings > Windows Update > Check for updates.
      2. If available, select Advanced options > Optional updates and look for camera or imaging device drivers. Install any that appear and restart.
    5. General USB/camera checks (already partly done, but summarized):
      • Ensure no external camera is confusing detection.
      • Restart the PC fully (not just sleep/resume) after each change.

    If, after these steps:

    • The integrated camera still does not appear in Device Manager under Cameras, Imaging devices, or USB devices (beyond the generic “Unknown USB Device (Device Descriptor Request Failed)” entry), and
    • OEM drivers continue to report “Device not found”, and
    • The Camera app reports no camera present,

    then the behavior aligns with the documented 0xA00F4244: Camera not detected scenario where the system cannot detect the camera at all. In such a case, the remaining guidance is to:

    • Verify physical connection and hardware: for an internal laptop camera, this typically requires OEM service (HP) to check the camera module and internal cable.
    • If possible, have HP diagnostics or an HP service center run hardware tests on the camera module.

    Given all the steps already taken and the persistent “device descriptor request failed” state, the evidence strongly points to a hardware or firmware failure of the integrated camera assembly rather than a Windows 11 25H2 software issue.

    References:

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