On December last year I found out about Windows Live Messenger 2009 and mistakenly thought it was official final version but it was actually a public beta. Anyway I installed it on my laptop and is using it until today. So far it has been perfect and never got any problems with it. While I was back in my home town for two weeks last month, I wanted to see my wife from her webcam in her laptop but the “Show my webcam” option has been grayed out. I used TeamViewer to remotely control the computer and ran Audio and video setup, the webcam test was fine… Weirdly the “Start a video call” worked as well.
As you all know, the Internet connection in my hometown is really slow and the video call between me and my wife is terribly slow and I could only see her 1 frame in . I didn’t want to use video call because it requires more bandwidth to transfer both audio and video compared to Show My Webcam which only streams the video. I wasn’t able to find a solution at that time but today I’ve found a workaround to enable Show My Webcam on Windows Live Messenger 2009.
Only my new Acer laptop running Windows Vista with Windows Live Messenger 2009 has the show my webcam missing problem but it was fine on my old laptop that’s running Windows XP with Windows Live Messenger 2009. First thing I did was to uninstall WLM 2009 and then do a reinstallation but no go. Then I thought that the problem could be caused by the Acer Crystal Eye Webcam that is installed by default, so I uninstalled it but still couldn’t use show my webcam option. I also read that antivirus could cause such problems. I terminated Kaspersky Antivirus 2009, all connections has been reset and I had to reconnect the Windows Live Messenger 2009. Suddenly the Show my webcam option is AVAILABLE! I then tried to show my webcam and it worked!
OK I hit the jackpot and thought it was Kaspersky but I was wrong. I rebooted the computer, terminated Kaspersky, ran Windows Live Messenger 2009, connected but this time the show my webcam option is again unavailable. I had to uninstall Kaspersky to confirm that it is not the cause of the problem but still the same. So it’s not Kaspersky…
After further testing, I found out that the show my webcam will be available after syncing the Windows Live Messenger 2009 connection. What you need to do is to run Windows Live Messenger 2009 and sign in as usual. Once you’re signed in, click the small button on the top right, select File > Sign Out.
When you’ve successfully signed out, sign in again. Weirdly that will enable the show my webcam option.
There’s no such problem on my old laptop which I manually installed Windows XP and Vista with external webcam. I am not sure what is the cause of this problem but I believe it should have something to do with either some of the pre-installed software/driver by Acer or the build-in webcam on my new laptop. Well Windows Live Messenger 2009 is still in public beta, so it is expected to have some bugs. With this workaround, I don’t need to revert back to the old Messenger 8.5 and can continue using the beautiful Windows Live Messenger 2009 ;)
Related posts:
everyone is asking for a solution here will somebody tell us how to do it for christ sake
the webcamit’s not working
it doesn’t work bro….siply don’t
help
I recently got prompted to install an updated version of MSN Messenger… and now my “Show webcam” and “view webcam” options are missing.
ive seen other comments saying the same, so i guess it isnt a prblem with my computer…have Microsoft just decided to remove the best thing they had? and now we’re stuck with crappy, laggy, and sometimes shitty, video call?
i live in a town where the connection is SHIT. so a video call hardly ever works and sometimes doesnt at all… i need that “show webcam/view webcam” option!!
i need help… Darylmc1987@hotmail.com
thank you so much! I’m in an exchange program and i really needed it to talk to my parents! Thank you very very much!
When I first pruchased my new computer my Live Messanger video calls worked great. Then theree was a recent update. Now I can see and hear my video party and can see my self on the screen and camera is on, BUT my image does not appear on their computer. FIX Please?
Plz! I Have Windows 7 Ultimate (32-Bit) And I Have Windows Live Messenger Version 2009 (Build 14.0.8117.416)
And When I Press The Cam Button, It Doesn’t Show “Show My Webcam / Start A Video Call”
It Automatically Starts A Video Call…
Plz Any Solution…
If You Have Anysolution Email Me: Daiznarmo@hotmail.com
And Thx! :)
It’s Urgent Btw!!
I have the same issue currently with Video call between Live Messenger 2011(win 7 Ultimate) and Live Messenger 2009(XP SP3). Since the Live messenger 2011 only supports vista and win7 i couldn’t install it on my XP machine..pls help..thanks!
I cant really use my cam on window live messenger 2009. it is always saying start or stop a video call. What do i do to stop this or use my web cam on msn?
I need ur urgent help soon.
Thanks
PLEASE E MAIL ME THIS INFORMATION
accidently find a solution to the problem realted to show my cam i just downloaded a program and suddenly i regained the icon and now enjoy chating while cam open so any body interested pls email me to give him the details
Hello,
I’m interesting to know your solution to solve webcam prob on MSN 2009
Regards
thank you, this worked first time :-D
LOVE YOU ;-) xxxx
i accidently find a solution to the problem realted to show my cam i just downloaded a program and suddenly i regained the icon and now enjoy chating while cam open so any body interested pls email me to give him the details
holly
August 15th, 2010 at 11:56 pm 129
Raymond we need your help! The new Live Messenger 2010 BETA doesnt let you show webcam, if you click the webcam icon it will automatically start a video call! Sometimes I just want to show the webcam and not start a video call. Please HELP!
I Have the Same Problem! See on my computer, i have Windows 7! It had been working untill i randomly updated my computer (I have a Acer laptop, it had crashed and i formatted and put Windows 7 on it but it still had worked) Anyway so my computer starting acting up due to the fact that it wanted me to download “Genuine” Windows! so i had put in a download i had got from my friend, and it had worked. The Problem after that is my Messenger would turn the cam on, it would attempt to load and then turn off. I tried to download and re-download my Messenger and it got worse to the fact where, when i press it it only goes on video call and it’s extremely Laggy! Please Help this is Urgent!
Sign, Nicole
I have a new camera “Venus” which needs no drivers – this is a plug in camera.MY MSN doesn’t let see my camera by my friends although I can see them perfectly.
But in Skype and Yahoo Messenger my camera works without any problems.
I like MSN most and need my cam to work fine here.
Please help.
My pc programe is Vista.
My Windows Live Messenger is 2009
14.0.8.8117.416
I had anothe camera before and it worked fine but it got damaged so I bought this Venus which should connect to MSN as they say.
Hope you will send me an answer and your suggestions.
Sincerley
Barbara Ska
Poland
Raymond we need your help! The new Live Messenger 2010 BETA doesnt let you show webcam, if you click the webcam icon it will automatically start a video call! Sometimes I just want to show the webcam and not start a video call. Please HELP!
Raymond we need your help! The new Live Messenger 2010 BETA doesnt let you show webcam, if you click the webcam icon it will automatically start a video call! Sometimes I just want to show the webcam and not start a video call. Please HELP!
its looart no tieten
PB, which file would that be exactly?
You’re reeally a smart man , I can’t belive that my CAM worked again , Thank u again , big kisses and hugs
dear Sir, my case is a bit different, whenever i click the cam icon on the conversation window, it automatically starts a video call, at first i had the same problem u had, but when i uninstalled wlm and reinstalled it again, this came up. no view my webcam, not even greyed out, only when i click, automatically runs a video call, do u have any solution to my problem?
hi when im talking to my friends on msn and we want to put on cam when i click on the cam sign it goes straight on to video call it wont let me just view web cam plz help its driving me crazy help!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP
i recently installled wlm. but when i put my mouse pointer on the webcam icon, it only shows start or stop video call. the send my option is not available. what do i do
heeii
can you help me???
I have a problem with my webcam. :(
When i wanne cam with my friends on msn it only can start video there is no other opsion of cam that you can not klik on …
only start video /stopping video cam ….
i tried everything but i wount work :S
HELPPP PLEASEEE
eh nw me can view my webcam but when vedio call i can view myself , ppl cannot view me . how come ? any help ?
sorry make sure msn is working propperly ont the pc that you copy the file off obviously :)
let me know how you get on :) xx
show my web cam didn’t even show on the new msn when i downloaded it but i got it going! copy and paste someones windows live file out of thier c drive, programme files :) then make sure you have unistalled msn on your pc then put the file into your c drive, programme files. it will ask you to replace the exsiting file click yes to all :) then download and install the newest msn resart ya pc all should be well :) happy
Help here !! i yesterday formet my laptop acer aspire 4715z thn i today instal wlm downloads at msn.com but same like other when i click webcam button no option for me , stright go do vedio call . plsss help me !!
Hi, whenever i press the webcam button for MSN it doesnt give me options. It just automatically sends video chat. How do i fix it so it only sends cams?…..I’ve tried some of the things above and they didn’t help at all.
wells ive gotten a acer for my birhtday and i stil cant seem to fix my webcam! every time i go on msn it and i go to send my webcam it says start or stop video call how do i fix it? THIS HAVE NEVER HAPPEND!
OMG ! Thank you sooo much ! :D
hey wats up i really feel likek crying i have tryed allllllllllllllllllllllllllll of the above and nothing worked i have restored my laptop although i only had my laptop 2 weeks old is still new and i restored everything and nothing worked out i tryed doing alll of the above and still didnt work please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
whenever i click on the cam i get start or end video call i dont have start web cam
please tell me what to do pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee i beg you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
after when im done formating my desktop pc them im install the windos live messenger only can used my webcam with vedio call ican’t open only supret my webcam,,,can spmeone else tel me how can fiz this problem please thx all…
Why not open the CAM single in windows live messenger , but open video call?
i like sometimes to open my cam alone without cam my friends.
when i press to my cam it makes call vidio.
anyhelp please?
i got the same problem with you, there is nowhere the “show my webcamera” it has dissapear! i have done everything i found in the internet, but no change to work, only with wlm 8,5 works, with the 2009 absolutely nothing!
raymond for me it shows just videocalls and above it its says get a webcam so i can just use a video call i am gonna go crazy with messenger help plzzz
THANKS SO MUCH !! OMG I WAS GONNA CRY. YOU ROCK!!
man ..god bless u !!!!daaamnnn i stay 5 hours and i did all..cheers
only had to do this once and never had a problem since fantastic solution BIG thank you x
Hi, this is an easy but really really helpful solution. Thank you so much!
thank you a lot, worked perfect for me, I was about become mad, but your solution worked fine.
thanks ^_^
thank you sooo much =D
YOU OWN MAN!.. I MEAN YOURE LIKE JESUS CHRIST/BUDA/GHANDI REENCARNATION :P anyway.. tnkx a lot!
man you have no idea how much looking i have done to find what you just told me, good job. and thanks a million
It worked for me. I think the “Allow others to view my webcam” box has to be ticked.
show my web cam
omggg. your a genious! thank youuuuu ((:
after you have done the step rung the video and voice set up again .
Thanks, this worked for one account, but not the one I used the most…
I did what “NIChoLasVance” said:
1. Go to Tools
2. Select Audio and Video Setup
3. Click Next
4. Disable your webcam
5. Repeat 1,2, and 3
6. Enable your webcam
Worked a treat… thanks a lot!!!!!
hi my cam works for every one elses but one person it say it loads and we can see are own cam for while then it cutts off when it never used to do that because it used to work all the time
Many thanks – sorted out the problem. Many thanks again.
يسعدنى الاشتراك معكم
Thanks! This fixed my problem.
Thianks, Dude, Excellent.
It solved my issue by signing-in and signing-out. Now “show my webcam” works perfectly.
I searched all the web, and I couldn’t find a solution until I found your post.
Again, thank you so much.
Mike
I fixed mine by going to menu…tool…audio and visual setup….next…and then disable your webcam and re enable! It worked for me.
Man – I was having the same fucking problem! Thank you VERY much! I was really pissed off because it was just too stupid: I couldn’t figure out why my cam would work in one account, but wouldn’t in another account in the same laptop! I did as you said and there it is! It works again =) Thanks dude ;)
tbh mines built in and it dont even ay i have webcam at side,how can i make it show up ?
Ths, sooo much. Now worked very well.
Worked beautifully. But for some reason when I select “Start A Video Call”, I can see the other persons webcam, and they can see me, but I can’t see myself. Instead it displays a picture of a webcam with an X through it. Any idea why I can’t see myself?
Thank you so much! I couldn’t resolve this problem until now, and I have to say you’re my hero for posting this resolution! (:
It works now,
thank you very much!
regards,
Alex
I found this myself . It works for me
1. Go to Tools
2. Select Audio and Video Setup
3. Click Next
4. Disable your webcam
5. Repeat 1,2, and 3
6. Enable your webcam
Very well done my friend you have saved me so much time :P thx again
OMFG DUDE!!!!! I was getting so fucking pissed off at this thing for not working, and when i was about to give up, i found this. And it totally got it working again. Thanks so much dude, YOU ROCK!!!
thanks so much for the help , i love u , this thing was gonna make me crazy !!!! <3
Actually if you sign in to messenger, open a conversation window with anyone (online of course) and open your e-mail from messenger, then go to the top where it says messenger, sign in to web messenger then sign out, you’ll see that your messenger will sign out too, but your conversation window is still open, sig in to your messenger again and TADA! your webcam is ungreyed now!. Hope it helped.
It works bro perfecty fine thanks alot but i am still wondering what is causing this problem??? any ideas?
signing out of live messenger and signing back in worked on the grayed out ‘show my webcam’ – thanks!
Great Work Raymond…
effective as hell
YOU LEGEND! I’ve been trying reinstalling everything drivers, msn, msn plus, etc for hours, and then I do such a simple step and it works? Pretty crazy.
Thanks mannnnnnnn
I was so happy with messenger 8.5 with mess patch an msn plus it was the perfect messenger until this MF force me to put this messenger that is worse in everything,,i think that the main reason was eliminate sharing folders, why? now you have to upload the file to their servers so they can monitor everything but instead of making a 8.6 without sharing folders they contract a gay minimun to design this garbage called messenger 9 and I have that bug now of the greyed send my webcam that was ok in the 8.5 and signing in and aout and in again solve the problem as raymond find this way to solve this,,thanks Raymond
i have my webcam plugged in but no even the webcam symbol shows up
Can someone please help me ??
hi there
i have web camera problem
my cam is integrated on dell studio One.
i use windows vista home premium sp1.
my problem is:
when i talk in live msn 2009 and when i send invitation or my friend in chat send me invitation,the invitation doesnt appear and it is like we didnt send invitation to each other.
what to do any suggestion pls
and by the way it works perfect on skype without any problem.
thx Luki
Hi I am having major problems with this new live messanger my video call and cam every time I send an invite or I get invited I nbeed to do end task and end program I freeze all the time and everything blocks this is so annoying I never ever had such problems and now all this .I thought updates were for a good reason yeah sure and I also emailed microsoft and stil no answer help anyone have an ideas on how to fix this thanks Lee
Thanks for the fix. Signing out/in does work.
*Why are there pretty serious bugs with a major MSN app? Do they not test or care? I’m so angry. Something else must be p***ing me off but this is pushing me over the edge.
:)
the webcam still doesn’t show up, i’ve followed all the advice you given and still nothing. Can you help please
Raymond, you’re a genius! man this new live messenger sure got bugs all around.
thanks man, this so solved my problem!!
Cheers man it worked!
it sounds stupid but i did it and it works
and sometimes it gives me this error code 0x80ee000c Starting a Video Call with oooo …
End call (Alt+Q)
Messenger is not available right now. Please try again later. (0x80ee000c)
i have problem withe cam ..when i send single invitation it doesnt appear even when i make video invitation ti works but i can see my friend cam but my cam looks frozen ,,i use msn 2009 please any help?
Hey guys
i have found the solution that how webcam can work on new windows live messenger…
From Local Area Connection Properties
clear the check of QoS Packet Scheduler
and Stop the IPSec Service from Administrator Tools
it will work for sure!!!
* Go to Tools/Options ‘Allow others to see that I have a webcam’.
* Restart MSN.
my webcam works on my laptop and has sucessfully installed but my partner cant see it. everyone else can and it works fine but when i ask him to view and he accepts it says session ended please help he is away alot and i like to c him :(
I had wlm9 since a long time but a few weeks ago my webcam kept on disconnecting every 30-40 secs. I thought there were some kind of bugs installed by windows update for wlm9 so i downgraded to 8.5, but same problem, then i tried 8.1 same sh**. After some research i found a few posts on Mcafee Antivirus issues. I’m not using mcafee but i reduce the protection on the instant messaging applet and voila.
Antivirus: Avast Home 4.8 (Configured all modules for high sensitivity protection except for instant messaging)
Os: Windows X
CPU: Intel P4 3.2Ghz
RAM: 3.5Gb
hi everyone .. does anyone know how to make the webcam size big on the 14.0 .. it only shows small and i hate it …
thanks
Veno
That didn’t work for me. But what did work was disconnecting the webcam and plugging it back in while logged in. Slightly less of a hassle than logging out and in again too.
thanks for that it really helped me… now i can use jsut the webcam!!!
Thank you! yay
WHOOOOOO!!
Thankyou. Thankyou. Thankyou!! =]
It works!!
=]xD
how do i enable my webcam in windows??? can u help me
i’ve tried all the above and still nothing is working :( how can i get the show my webcam to not be greyed out???
thanks
how do i enable my webcam in windows?
hey,
thank you so much raymond. i also had the same problem like you did, but i’m using the public version of windows live 2009. i sign in and off, then the show my webcam option is available now!
much thanks from indonesia,
cheers
since i downloaded the new msn beta, my webcam wont work..how can i get it to work again? thanks
ok do you know how to disable the web cam from live messenger?
thank u so much
i have the same problem but………….. I’ve tried signing in again like you said but that didn’t work for me :(
can you help?
or is there a way of letting the windows live team know this bug so they can fix it ?
add me now wanna show my cam
OMG How did u get so smart.. lol Thank you so much this pissed me off so much
THANK YOU!!!
Thanx.. v helpful
Thanks Raymond! Great work!
man this really works, good job
thanks alot, my cam works now, but the “show cam” option is grayed out still :(
can only use video calls
any suggestions?
it doesnt work with me!
thank you!
Thanks! Your insight was very helpful.
Windows Live needs to take some lessons from Skype in User Interface design… They have made it too complicated!
it didn’t work…. i can’t “show my webcam” :(
i took your advice, and i tried to signed out by exiting the whole thing, try to sign back in and it won’t let me :S
but when i unplug my webcam, it signs me back in.
Hurrr Durr… The signing out then back in thing didn’t work for me.
It worked a few months before but then my msn went back to being useless last week. Um.. I went to my settings and ticked the box that says “allow others to see my webcam”.
That might be the key? I had it unchecked.. so others were not allowed to see my webcam.. therefore the “show my webcam” bit was greyed out. Possibly.
Thanks for the info it was very helpful
Thanks again
It worked. I am using Vista Home Premium, MSN Live 9 on Dell 1525 inspiron.
I signout from file menu and signin and viola! I can see show my webcam
I also enabled “Allow others to see my webcam”
Thanks!
Problem solved, thanks Raymond
I have the same problem as Josh # 23. The sine out/in does not work for me. any ideas??
omg that really worked!!
NO JOY FOR ME RAYMOND, your solution did not work.
this solution dos not work for me. I disabled Kaspersky and restarted messenger and “Show my webcam” is steel grayed !?
Do somebody have another idea or workaround?
this solution worked for me, but when i want to see how i look like before i send a request to show my webcam, i can\’t see \”Tools>Webcam Settings\” option. there\’s just \”Tools>Audio and Video Setup\” option to use in this way, but it shows my mirror image, not the real one.
hey guys.. same sort of problem.. can do videocall no problem.. but when i click on show my webcam it starts and shows my picture for like 5 seconds then cuts out.. my contacts see nothing..???
used to be fine.. but now on this version of msn.. nt working..
any suggestions?
tks for your help!!
I’m not exactly having the same problem as you. I can start a webcam or video call and hear/see the other person and their webcam. I can see my own webcam as well.
but the other person says they cannot see my webcam or hear me, when i can see it just fine. I hate this new crap
Hi
Ive been having this problem too. I read this post about it yesterday and followed your steps and it worked but today its gone right back to having show my webcam greyed out. I tried your steps again a couple of times and it didnt work this time. Im using windows XP. Do you have any other suggestions?
thanks
Thank you very much…
i had the same problem..
and following your steps it worked so nice!!
Thanks man.. keep it up :D!
Thank you Raymond !
kaspersky download 2009
thx raymond but i cant use the option on actions>video> view a contact’s web cam, i guees it’s the same problem, i was thinking it was a problem with XPx64 but is not.
thx again
From Wiki
\”On January 7, 2009, the same build was released as the final version of Windows Live Messenger 2009.[32]\”
It is final…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSN_Messenger#Windows_Live_Messenger_2009
Indeed I will, since I use my name here as on the forum too. ;)
thanks for u informations
Thanks, Raito_Kun, I thought it was my computer:)
first you need to go under the tools-options-personal and make sure that you have checked Allow others to see that I have a webcam … this worked for me :)
Yes, Juhani, it’s a bug , my friend experienced the same issue, but me no. It’s a common bug of this version i hope microsoft will fix it soon.
Windows Live Messenger
Version 2009 (Build 14.0.8050.1202)
Raymond,
do you mean this version is the public beta version? i always thought it was final already.
Hi Raymond!
The 2009 version seems to be a bit odd, I couldn’t find my contacts online nor add any new contacts. I had to visit filehippo.com and download the 8.5 version. Anyone else experienced this kind of a problem?
THX RAYMOND~!
@HellNoire: I’ve tested on both of my computers and whenever I receive a new message, I get a notification popup window plus it will flash at taskbar. Can you post this problem in forum so we’ll take a look at it?
Hi Raymond,
Welcome back. Tks so much for your advise…
Btw, Kaspersky was website hacked & customer activation codes exposed few days back… What a pity for them.
kevin, are you using a beta version of Windows Live Messenger 2009 ?
Raymond, do you have any tips on making it flash on the traybar when you get a message? For some odd reason when I’m using it and it’s in the tray bar, (I work on homework while being on MSN, I know it’s bad but still) and for me, the beta doesn’t flash when you get a message and it’s minimized.
I think it might be a bug in the beta, but I’m not sure.
the new MSN also has another bug.
if you have a flash based screen saver on, the moment the screen savers starts, MSN will crash.
i’m not sure if its only me, but i used to use the polarclock screensaver and everytime it starts MSN will crash.
Welcome Back Raymond!!!
Thank you for your advice.
Best regards,
Jose.
nice work man……..
nice work man……….