Why Is My Webcam Always On?

My webcam seems to be on even when the computer is off.

It has a ring of white leds around the lens and they have been shining all the time, whether the pc is on or off.

How's that possible I wonder?

Barman58 said:

These days with the amount of USB based devices that we all tend to rely on, the computer manufacturers are starting to assign some USB ports as "Always On", these ports are usually designated as "Power Ports" or similar. It may be that your computer has at least one of these new port types, that is causing this with the camera.

Obviously there may be an issue with the webcam as it's not usual for the lighting to be on all the time - only when the light levels are low.

You may be able to set the lights to only operate in low light, or maybe move to another port

Hi there

This is true on HP laptops and other brands where usually there's 1 charging port and 2 standard ones -- even if the machine is powered off and disconnected from the mains the charging port will still supply power to any connected device - this can drain the PC's battery so it's adviseable to remove all USB devices when shutting down a computer - especially anything connected to a charging port.

Even desktops when powered down they are often still operating in "Standby mode" for example you will often see LAN cables still giving green / orange light at the ethernet connection --- so the only sure way is to disconnect all the usb devices even on desktops - or in the case of desktops disconnect from mains completely.

USB HDD's are usually OK as they are normally in stopped mode when the computer is powered down although on some passport ones you might still see a blue LED if the USB is connected to the "charging port". However if the computer is not being used it makes sense to power down completely, disconnect from mains and unplug external devices.

"Save the planet - don't use more power than you need" !!!!

Cheers
jimbo

Barman58 said:

There has always been a need for desktops to retain some power when in a shutdown state, this is to allow the remote "Wake on LAN" functionality which is essential for the maintenance of many enterprise setups. Not needed in most homes, though I still have the habit

Hi there
agreed absolutely - for most homes though it's better to switch off completely and disconnect external USB devices. I think also the modern tendency now is to make most devices like TV's etc power off completely rather than as the used to be the case by default left in Standby mode.

Cheers
jimbo

Buy a USB hub with individual switches, turn off the webcam USB socket when not in use.

CountMike said:

In my BIOS/UEFI and probably in most newer MBs, there's a setting in ACP/APM called "ErP Enabled", when enabled, it shuts down power to all peripherals by USB and network while computer is off but powered.

Hi there
I don't think the average user would go into that -- sometimes people use computers in powered off state to charge their mobile phones -- quite useful to top up a phone charge during the day even if you aren't near a computer power source.

Cheers
jimbo

Thank you all very much for those responses. I'm in the picture now. I will check my BIOS but I will also make it a habit to disconnect the usb webcam. Easy enough to do.

:)