I've been wanting to hook up a webcam, mostly so my PC can stare back at me while I work and partly so acquaintences I've made around the globe can put a face (mine even) with a name.
I spent the big bucks ($29.95USD) on a LabTec WebCam and installed it (and its accompanying software) on my Toshiba Satellite A35-S159 running Windows XP.
Immediately, Internet Explorer no longer could find the Internet. I eventually rebooted the machine, and then couldn't even load Windows properly. I was just stuck with a mouse icon that would hourglass when I passed anywhere over the Taskbar or Start Menu. I tried to uninstall the camera software, but the applications list wouldn't enumerate...it just hung there, and rebooting several times didn't help either.
Windows XP saved me with its Restore Points feature. I went in there the next day, and it had a point saved for the moment before the camera was installed. I ran the Restore wizard, and it worked like a charm. Thanks Microsoft!
It's kind of creepy for a computer to be able to see you anyway, right? I wonder if KMart will give me my money back...
Update: I'm not the only one with USB web cam problems...click here.