My webcam suddenly not working on Windows Live Messenger video calls?

Webcam on Windows Live Messenger/Yahoo Messenger?

• I have windows live messenger and yahoo messenger but when I try to use my webcam to talk to someone, I only see my self and it tries and always fails to connect. But, I can still use it to speak through a phone line... basically, the voice part is working, but the video is not. What's wrong and how do I fix it?

• Answer:

  It sounds like you not broadcasting and not connected to Yahoo with your webcam at all Check into this: For your webcam to work with Yahoo! Messenger, it needs to support the following: 1. Either one of these image sizes: o Small image size: 160 x 120 o Large image size: 320 x 240 2. RGB, I420, or IYUV formats. (Each is fine; the recommended is RGB 24.) 3. Microsoft DirectX version 9.0 To get this information, download a Microsoft application that checks to see if your webcam device meets these requirements. Once it’s downloaded, here’s what to do: 1. Double-click the amcap.exe file on your desktop. o If you have more than one webcam installed, click the Devices menu and select the one you want to use. 2. Click the Options menu, then click “Video capture Pin.” 3. Under “Color Space/Compression:”, choose one of the following formats: o RGB 24 (our recommendation) o I420 o IYUV Note: If one of the options above isn’t in the list, then your webcam is not compatible with Yahoo! Messenger. 4. Under “Output Size”, choose one of the following: o 160 x 120 o 320 x 240 Note: If one of the options above isn’t in the list, then your webcam is not compatible with Yahoo! Messenger. 5. Click OK 6. Close the ampcap application. 7. From your desktop, click ‘Start’ and select ‘Run’. 8. In the run box, type: dxdiag 9. In the confirmation dialog box, click OK. 10. On the System Tab under ‘System Information’, look for DirectX version. Verify that your version is DirectX 9.0. If it is, just click Exit. If your version is older than 9.0 (any lower number), click here to download the latest version of DirectX. 11. Start the webcam from Messenger by clicking My Webcam in the Messenger menu.