Hiding icam when laptop opens.

[rebelmgr99]

This is a question that has been asked before but no one has answered it.  Or I cant find it.


When I open a closed laptop and it wakes up from sleep.  The cam image shows in the left corner of the desktop.  The icam software doesnt open with it and it is still minimized in the taskbar.  It looks like you are in a video chat.  It doesnt show the software but it lets someone know that the cam is on. 
Any ideas on how to stop this?

Windows 7

[OUAnthony]

I don't have Windows 7...so I'm not 100% sure, but it sounds like you have some other program running that is accessing the webcam...like Yahoo, MSN, Skype, the webcam's software, etc. If nothing else could be accessing it, I think I saw some posts on here about updating your drivers...especially for the graphics card. And if that doesn't work, you could always try running icamsource as a service (assuming the NT resource package works on Windows 7). The only problem with the service is that you can't directly access the icamsource on the computer, as it is hidden completely (even from the status bar). It still works though, and you can access everything you need from your phone. If none of those things help you, try e-mailing SKJM. I think Jay and Stefan are awake 24-7, as it seems they almost always respond to posts in a few hours. haha

[Stefan]

Sounds like the Active Movie Windows issue - http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=481.0

I would make sure you have the latest drivers installed for your graphics card, as OUAnthony suggested.

[rebelmgr99]

Well this is even more interesting.
  If you open the icam software it automatically minimizes to the taskbar without appearing on the desktop and everything works fine.  If you close an reopen the laptop it will not show in the upper left corner. 

If you open the icam software and view it on the desktop and then minimize it and close and reopen the laptop then it is visible in the upper left corner. 

Strange.  Any thoughts?

[venus]

same problem on an asus laptop running vista  - window open in upper left that shows vid

[venus]

how do you run icamsource as a service - with vista?

[OUAnthony]

The same way as with XP! Read the post linked below. Jay posted a link to it within that post...but also read my post because there is some additional information that you might find useful.

http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=806.0

[Jay]

venus - When does the window in the upper left corner appear?  After the computer wakes from screensaver?  After the computer wakes from standby?  Does the window appear if you launch iCamSource with the Auto-Start option enabled?

There's information about running iCamSource as a service in this thread: http://skjm.com/forum/index.php?topic=447.0

[venus]

yes, i am launching with the Auto-Start option enabled.  this problem is duplicated on two asus laptops i have.  both are running vista.  the problem occurs when coming back from a sleep.  "window"  may be misleading because there isn't an actual window that can be manipulated or closed.  there is no border, title, control buttons, etc... - it's more like the desktop has a 3" x 4" vid cam viewable over the desktop icons.

there was a button in the taskbar that said winmovie, or something like that,  but now i can't get it to do it.  it may be because i stopped google chat.  i'll mess around and see if i can duplicate it, to provide better detail.

[venus]

ok, i restarted my computer so that google talk would restart.  iCamSource did not auto launch - by the way.  it's very inconsistent with whether or not it starts automatically.  then, i put the computer into sleep mode and then reactivated.  went through the login, and the vid shows up on my desktop. the button in the taskbar has the iCam icon and says ActiveMovie Window.

hope this helps

[Jay]

The Auto-Start option does not launch iCamSource when you start-up the computer.  It auto-connects to the camera when you launch iCamSource.

Does the ActiveMovie window stop showing up if you quit google talk again?

[venus]

tried it about 10 times - with and without google talk running.  it still happens when google talk is not running.  it's very consistent that it happens if i open iCamSource preferences, close the window, then go into sleep.  iCam is probably not shutting down the associated movie process when the window gets closed.

[Jay]

iCamSource does close the movie player in DirectShow, but apparently there are certain situations where the movie player doesn't close correctly.  The strange thing is that DirectShow thinks the movie player closed correctly.  If it didn't, there would be an error message.

Is your .NET framework up to date?  It's possible that you have an old version of DirectShow.  The .Net updater is available here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=333325FD-AE52-4E35-B531-508D977D32A6&displaylang=en