IR camera doesnt activate

Hi TongZhang.

Thank you for reaching out here in the Microsoft Community.

In your description, your computer's infrared camera is not working properly in Windows Hello.

I noticed that you have already made some attempts, such as, restarting your computer, such as checking the driver and the hardware for facial recognition, thank you for your efforts and attempts to solve this problem, I do understand the frustration and inconvenience of not being able to use the IR camera properly sometimes on your current computer.

Before everything starts, please check if there are currently any uninstalled updates for Windows, and if so, please try again after installing Windows updates.

Based on the information so far, the issue may have something to do with the Windows Hello settings, as well as some configuration of the IR camera.

We need to perform some tests to determine the problem.

Please refer to the following steps in Settings and check the facial recognition settings

1 Right-click the Start button and select Settings

2 Click Accounts>Sign-in options

3 Click Expand Facial Recognition and make sure it's enabled, and if there is an option for “Improve Recognition”, enable it.

You'll also need to do something about the biometrics service.

Open the Services pane and stop the biometric service.

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.

Type services.msc

Select Windows biometric services from the left column

Right-click on it, then select “ Stop” from the list that appears

Open Explorer

Navigate to

C:\Windows\System32\WinBioDatabase

Rename the .DAT file to a .DAT.BAK file.

Open the “Services” panel and start the Biometrics service.

Press Win + R to open the Run dialog box.

Type services.msc

Select Windows biometric services from the left column

Right-click on it, and select “ Start” from the list that appears.

If the above steps didn't help you, then your problem shouldn't be from Windows Hello, but from something else like the IR camera, or power settings.

Temporarily right-click on the Start button and select Settings > System > Power to temporarily disable or stop the system's sleep and hibernation features.

Then refer to the following steps and try to turn off Fast Startup

1 Search for Control Panel in the taskbar

2 Click Hardware and Sound>Power Options

3 Click Choose what the power buttons do

4 Find Turn on fast startup (recommended) and uncheck it.

If you are still having problems, we need to do some troubleshooting with the camera.

You can right-click on the Start button, select Device Manager, then find this IR camera, right-click, select Properties, look for the Power Management tab, and if it's there, try unchecking “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power”.

You seem to have checked the driver for your IR camera in Device Manager, so please download and install the driver for your IR camera from the manufacturer's website, depending on the model number, and install the firmware if available.

See if the problem comes from the driver or firmware.

Meanwhile, you can try to use other cameras to see if the other cameras have problems, and then connect this IR camera to other computers to see if it has the same problem, this step will determine if the problem comes from the IR camera itself.

You can also try to check if there is some software on your computer that manages the use of the camera, such as the management software provided by the device manufacturer (Lenovo vantage, HP Support Assistant), and if there is, temporarily turn the camera on here, or disable or uninstall these software temporarily.

Please try the above steps and let me know the result, I will further determine the problem for you based on the result and provide assistance.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi TongZhang.

Thanks for your reply.

I understand that your computer has a built-in IR camera.

Since you mentioned that you can make it work for a period of time after setting it up, then we assume that the camera settings and drivers are normal during this period of time, otherwise the camera will never work properly.

And after the camera hibernates, it can't start up again, which is obviously not normal.

Therefore, we judge that the problem is most likely because it has a hardware failure, resulting in the need to wake up again with some settings.

Please contact ASUS support via the link below and they will be able to provide you with more targeted assistance in this area of ASUS device troubleshooting.

https://www.asus.com/support/callus/

https://www.asus.com/support/Product/ContactUs/Services/questionform/?lang=en

Disclaimer: Microsoft provides no assurances and/or warranties, implied or otherwise, and is not responsible for the information you receive from the third-party linked sites or any support related to technology.

Thank you for your understanding and support.

Best regards,

Zev - MSFT | Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Hi there Zev,

thanks for the suggestions.

Ive tried to follow your advise to the best of my understanding.

For reference the laptop Im using is a Asus Zephyrus G14 2024 so the IR camera is build-in.

Except for the power managment tab in device manager point which i couldnt find ive done all the other methods. And they do work the moment after implementing but for some reason if i leave it on sleep after a few moments the camera shut off again. The prompt is activating and nothing wrong with the actual face-cam which still works, the IR lights ie the red blinking ones dont.

As well as the improve recognition doesnt work. When I delete my current saved entry and try improve recognition i dont see the IR blinking and it just prompts me to look straight.