How can I view my webcam in vista?

Question

I have a cheep Logitech webcam that works fine in Skype and flash applications. In windows xp I could open the webcam in my computer and view though it and save pictures. Does Vista do that as well?

And if not what's a good simple program that I can use to replicate this functionality?

Answer 1

Since it looks like the functionality you are expecting is not available in Windows Vista, you can use VLC to open the camera as a "Capture Device" and then take snapshots using VLC. The VLC FAQ explains tells us that to take a snapshot:

How can I take screenshots?

To take a snapshot of the video displayed by VLC, you just need to press the pre-defined snapshot hotkey:

• Windows / Linux / Unix: Ctrl+Alt+S
• Mac OS X: Command+Alt+s

To change it, go to Preferences -> Interface -> Hotkeys settings, check Advanced options, and set Take video snapshot.

You can also take a snaphot via the menu Video -> Snapshot.

To change the snapshot format or directory, go to Preferences -> Video.

Where are my screenshots?

If you haven't changed the snapshot directory in your preferences, your screenshots should go to:

• Windows: My Documents\My Pictures\
• Linux / Unix: $(HOME)/.vlc/
• Mac OS X: Desktop/

To change it, go to Preferences -> Video -> Video snapshot directory.

Answer 2

You can't do that in Vista as the WIA driver installed on XP is not included with Vista, it is by design.