Webcam turned on itself. Why?

I have a Dell Inspiron N5110 running Windows 7 SP1. The webcam is Dell P/N: T3NPC.

I was on YouTube watching TeamFourStar. Right as I finished the video I was watching, I exited Mozilla and went to shutdown my computer for the night when I noticed (white LED next to camera) the built in webcam was on. I opened task manager and without even having to show processes from all users there it was, WebcamDell2.exe. I haven't used my webcam for about a month. Last time I used it was for Skype. I already have my computer calling me Dave,(HAL 9000) the last thing I need is for it start watching me sleep.

Epic Evan

Posted 2015-04-24T10:06:37.487

Reputation: 21

– bummi – 2015-04-24T10:28:42.043

You can find out what process is using the webcam with Process Explorer; see http://superuser.com/questions/335116/finding-out-which-app-is-using-the-webcam.

– DrMoishe Pippik – 2015-04-24T15:51:32.990

1NSA is watching you (jk?). put a bandaid or post-it over it – Russell Uhl – 2015-04-24T16:20:35.403

Answers

First thing I can think of is that maybe the camera drive was being updated at that moment. Second, it could be a virus which turns on the camera driver on the background. Honestly there are so many things that might have happened that it would be better to check if this happens again. It could also have been a type of "attack" from someone. To find out what the problem is, see if this happens again. If so, do a full system scan with your antivirus and also use other tools like AdwCleaner, HitmanPro, TDSSKiller.
If you have a restore point to a near date, do first a system restore, then scan your system and check if the problem is still there. Uninstalling the camera driver and installing the one you find from your computer's website is recommended. Another thing that could be possible is that maybe an ad could have caused it to turn on (in case you don't use adblocker).

Erlis D.

Posted 2015-04-24T10:06:37.487

Reputation: 768