I noticed this today searching for something on YouTube, the camera led goes on when watching a video. It goes off if i pause or stop the video, and it happens with all browsers. Then i played a local video, and the same thing happened so it must be a windows thing. When any video plays, the camera is used. (can it be malware?). Dell Inspiron 3525 laptop on windows 11 w/ latest updates. wtf? PS I managed to solve it, read post #10
not sure what the issue could be with your laptop. ..I had somewhat "similar" issue on a Lenovo laptop.... got me ages to get to "identify" the cause of "camera" constantly turning on by itself.... so to summarize steps: a) reset BIOS to FACTORY , rest windows to FACTORY install ( you can often do this via tools in the RECOVERY section b) Turn OFF - CAMERA in BIOS ( since yours is a DELL plus its a AMD (mad) processor WITH a "kinda discrete display card" that combo often causes major issues with "drivers" , windows updates, bios updates... >> I resorted to buying a Externally PLUG-IN camera, and use that c) Turn OFF CAMERA + MIC in windows settings ... reboot than Install, Edge x64 business, (dont do any windows updates after rest) d) after edge , reboot and SHUT OFF any CAMERA and MIC in edge settings, save and reboot e) than use for couple of days..... before any windows updates ( as often the windows driver updates + combo with AMD(oops MAD !!)updates it causes 'default settings" to superseded - thus you see CAMERA LED on !! in my case; LENOVO has this stupid "vantage" software with 'system updates" , that did things in BACKGROUND, without showing anything and it kept 'access' the RECOVERY PARTITION in the SSD to install/change settings in BIOS& DISPLAY& DRIVERS etc etc... weirdest part of that discvery = was when I called so called "TECH SUPPORT".... I was told " that normal, and that it MUST BE DONE to make things work "correctly"...> so my comment to that so called "support specialist" was >> good on ya mate - you can get people to watch you while your laptop is OPEN , not closed lid, while you went to sleep in bed withy our wife/girlfriend".... > so his comment was " I was being rude !! "".. Hope this helps...> am sure there are lots of OTHER DELL experts on MDL ! who can help you
Thanks MDeaks, that is my hope too. I won't go to such drastic measures just yet, i tend to believe it's a system driver - windows update crap combo that causes this. I am "almost" sure it's not malware (scanned with 4 different malware tools). It's just weird...
That is not cool at all, you should put a piece of tape on your cam until you have determined the cause of this behavior. Leave the led exposed so you can see status on your cam. And if your cam led indicates your cam is activated it's very possible your mic is activated as well.
OK i found it guys, I looked at the recent updates, and the latest was the driver for the sound card. Looking into it, i found that this update updated also the "Waves Audio pro" sound enhancement tool which has a feature to monitor the position of your head in front of the laptop and adjust the sound accordingly (hence the camera activation). Who knows why, they just decided to make that active by default. Funny thing, it only activates the camera when you play a video file not an audio file. Turning it off solved the mystery. Jesus what a load of crap.