With the recent Windows 10 feature updates to version 1909 and version 2004, some webcam models have started causing blue screens (BSOD) in Windows 10.
We have observed this happening especially for webcams using drivers from a company called Sunsoft IT or something similar.
Fortunately, there is a solution available.
- Open the Device Manager and right click the webcam -> Properties
- Click Update Driver
- Browse my computer for drivers
- Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer
- On the final screen, choose Microsoft USB device
This will replace the faulty driver with a Microsoft equivalent and hopefully your computer will no longer crash when starting the webcam.
The easiest way to verify that the problem is gone is to start the built in Windows 10 app “Camera” by searching for “Camera” in the Start menu
miloš says:
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Phyllis says:
I really hoped this would work. On my HP laptop (ProBook 4540s), there is no final screen that shows Microsoft USB device. Step 4 led me to a screen where I could choose the device I wanted to update, with a choice of “Have Disk” (which I don’t want to mess around with, and anyway I don’t have a Win10 disk) and then it said it updated the driver. It also told me to restart my computer. But after I restarted and tried out the camera, it still gave me the BSOD, same thing.
RunTimeAsiaAdmin says:
I think I’ve managed to get it working on older ProBooks. On one of the screens, you have to uncheck the checkbox called “Show only compatible hardware” if I remember correctly. After that, the Microsoft driver option should appear.
Phyllis says:
It worked!!!!! Thank you SO much!!!!!
Awais says:
How did you do that?
Evan Ross says:
My pc doesn’t stay up long enough to go to the device manager and properties
Leo says:
Finally! Somebody provided a workable solution. Great thanks to this brilliant guy.
Bruno says:
Had this problem on a Windows10 Guest in VMWare Workstation 15.
You saved me, thanks !
Emily says:
Thank you so much!!!
You saved e from getting a new laptop as I am an online teacher.
Matt says:
Fantastic. Fixed the problem.
Val says:
Thank you so much, problem fixed, no more crashing!
Volv says:
Thanks. It solved my problem.
Tess says:
Many, many thanks!! Wish I had just looked up your information instead of spending a few worthless hours on the phone with Microsoft. This was easy and helpful!
vipin says:
thank you so much, problem solved
Harry says:
Thank you very much for the solution. Very grateful.
Judy says:
Problem finally solved when I sought help from Microsoft virtual agent on windows 10, who installed Microsoft driver for me. Thanks to Microsoft!
Sarah says:
I can’t find the webcam in the device manager
RunTimeAsiaAdmin says:
If the camera doesn’t show up there, look for something named “Unknown device” further down in the Device mgr. It could also be that your camera is disabled in the laptops BIOS
Sven says:
Thanks a lot
Lukman says:
Problem fixed, many thanks.
Slavisa says:
Fixed! You’re a genious! Thx a lot
Shah Mohammad Polash says:
Thanks for this in-depth review. I was looking for information about this but didn’t get any information what exactly
I am looking for. Fortunately, I come across to your website and it helps to make my decision.
It’s really made my day.
Thank you again for this great article.
Ilias says:
It worked
SS says:
It worked. Thank you!
Simon says:
Thank you it worked a treat. kind regards, Simon
Bojan says:
Great. It works agin. This is the simplest and most effective solution I have ever seen. TNX
iHanz says:
Brilliant! Have this Lenovo Ideapad with built in webcam. BSOD all the time. Did all the recommended driver updates, Windows updates… useless. This neat trick was all it took. Unbelievable messy business!