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Surface Pro 7 camera freezes in zoom but white light stays on

Anonymous
2023-07-10T07:56:31+00:00

I have a Surface Pro 7 and have been having trouble with the camera and with zoom (also has happened in Whatsapp but I use this less often) since I bought this. Randomly, sometimes just a couple minutes in, sometimes after 30 minutes, my camera will freeze and my image will either go black or be frozen with a dumb expression. The camera light still remains on, but my screen does not update. I can see everyone else moving fine, so it is not a connection issue. It used to sometimes fix itself if I turned off the camera in zoom and then turned it back on, but that no longer works. Now, it will also freeze to the point where zoom will lock up and I have to Ctrl+alt+delete or reboot.

I am using
Windows 11 Home

Version 22H2

OS Build 22621.1848

I have tried all of these things but the problem still exists.

Force the device to shut down and restart.

Press and hold down the power button until your Surface shuts down and restarts and you see the Windows logo screen (about 20 seconds), then release the power button.

Run Surface Diagnostic Toolkit and check Windows updates including optional updates available.

See: Fix common Surface problems using the Surface Diagnostic Toolkit (microsoft.com)

Run the system file checker to check if there are corrupted system files that are just looping around causing this kind of issue to exist.  See Using System File Checker in Windows - Microsoft Support.

Roll back the camera driver.

  1. In Device Manager, right-click (or press and hold) on your camera, then select Properties.
  2. Select the Driver tab, select Roll Back Driver, and then choose Yes. (Some drivers don’t provide this option. If your driver doesn’t have Roll Back Driver available, go ahead to the next fix.)
  3. After the roll back is complete, restart your device, and then try opening the Camera app again.
  4. If rolling back didn’t work or isn’t available, continue to the next steps.

Remove and reinstall driver

  1. Select Search on the taskbar, enter Device Manager, and select it from the results.
  2. Select the arrow next to Cameras to expand the list, and check to see if one of the following adapters is listed: Intel(R) TGL AVStream Camera Intel(R) AVStream Camera
  3. Double-click the camera, select the Driver tab, and then select Uninstall Device.
  4. Select Attempt to remove the driver for this device and then select Uninstall.
  5. Restart your Surface.
Surface | Surface Pro | Sound and camera

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-19T16:50:00+00:00

    The worst culprit that causes my camera to freeze is Microsoft Teams. Zoom almost always works fine, but ironically, it's the Microsoft virtual meeting platform that nearly always causes the Microsoft Surface Pro camera to malfunction. Boo.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  2. Anonymous
    2023-08-24T09:54:30+00:00

    I think that there's a relationship.

    When I use Hardware Acceleration for Virtual Backgrounds, S7P+ overheats and the camera freezes.

    I had a device replacement and it also happens to the new device.

    Nevertheless, if yuo turn the camera off and wait a couple of meetings, the light will turn off, and the camera will start working again.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  3. Anonymous
    2023-08-11T12:20:24+00:00

    I don't think mine was due to overheating either. Sometimes it would get warm, but never really hot and I didn't notice any increase when using the camera.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-08-10T08:06:04+00:00

    I have tried everything and it seemed to work for a little while after these fixes, but then it started freezing again and now it won't come back on. It's luckily under warranty. I'm sending it in for repairs.

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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  5. Anonymous
    2023-08-07T20:32:28+00:00

    Hi,

    I have the exact same problem with a Microsoft Surface Pro 8. Did you find a solution?

    I'm also on Windows 11 Home, Version 22H2, OS Build 22621.1848.

    I'm having problems with the built-in camera when videoconferencing: Intel(R) TGL AVStream Camera.

    Most of the time, I use Zoom, so that's where the problem manifested itself most often, but I also had the same issue with Microsoft Teams and Facebook Messenger in the browser.

    Cheers

    1 person found this answer helpful.
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