USB Document Camera ("Thustar 8mp") stopped working

AndrewPK

We've have an issue with a USB document camera that has stopped working on our front of house desktop computer (it still works on my laptop). We are a small physical therapy clinic and nobody here is particularly savvy with these issues. We have spent some time looking through previous topics in "support" and followed a few ideas from there and from our web searches. So far we still cannot get it to work. The camera is for use with our Electronic Medical Records (EMR) software so that we can easily capture insurance cards and link them to the EMR. The camera turns on but no longer shows us the card in the EMR viewfinder…just a black screen. This is a new camera and was working until we installed BitDefender. This is the correlation but I am aware that it could just be a coincidence and maybe something else is going on. Any help is appreciated.

Scott

Hello @AndrewPK

Try adding the camera files and folders into AV Exceptions.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/13427/

Also, if there is an .EXE file for that software, add that into Advanced Threat Defense Exceptions.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2393/

And just by chance, you could enable the Firewall/Settings Alert mode, to see if that brings up a connection notification to allow that app when you run the program.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2082/

Otherwise, you can contact Support from the How Tos & Troubleshooting option, going through the prompts until you get to the Contact Support box. You will be given 3 options to choose from, Chat support is usually the fastest way to get things started. Other members here, as well as the forum Admin @Alexandru_BD may have some suggestions as well tomorrow, if needed.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/help/

Kind regards

Alexandru_BD

Hi,

I assume both the camera and the PC are on the same network, yes? If your Bitdefender includes a Firewall, turn it OFF and check if the camera is working afterwards. If it does, do the following:

Re-activate the Firewall, then go to Network Adapters tab and set the network type to Home/Office using the drop-down menu near its name.

Then, from the same Firewall Tab, click on Settings from the top-right , then, for the network you're currently connected to, uncheck the 'stealth mode' button to disable it.

Let me know if this worked.

Regards,

Alex

AndrewPK

Thank you both for responding so promptly. Alex, I tried your suggestion initially because the steps were so clear but it didn't end up working. We will look through Scott's suggestions and trial them as we find time in our day. I will let you know what happens. Thanks again.

AndrewPK

Our front desk has tried all of the suggestions from Scott and Alex but none have worked. The camera works in the desktop settings and with multiple laptops so I have no idea why it wouldn't on the desktop. The only other piece of info I can think that may be helpful to initiate an idea is that there may be a problem between our EMR software, BitDefender and the camera. The software is web based (we don't use an app for it) but doesn't have any settings we can adjust regarding cameras (or anything else for that matter). The primary reason I'm wondering about this is because since installing BitDefender I no longer have access to our EMR using Chrome. It works in Edge and I'm busy enough trying to run this clinic that I haven't taken the time to figure out why I can't use it on Chrome yet.

We will pursue Scott's chat suggestion if you think that is the way to go? Thank you again.

Scott

@AndrewPK Yes, try Chat, as they could more quickly steer you in the right direction as far as what may be need to be done try to resolve this issue for you.

As far as Chrome, if you have Bitdefender Anti-Tracker enabled, try disabling it, and maybe some other Ad Block extensions you may have installed, to see if it's something as simple as that?

Kind regards.

Alexandru_BD

@AndrewPK please do let us know the outcome of this, should you have the time, as I'm curious to find out what was causing that camera to stop working. I assume one of the Bitdefender security modules may be involved, but since your configuration there is very specific, I think this will require Support intervention to follow some troubleshooting steps and see what exactly is blocking the operation.
I'm sorry we couldn't do more here.

Thanks.

AndrewPK

Alex, I appreciate the follow up. Michelle at our front desk spent some time support trying to troubleshoot the issue but I'm afraid they could not resolve it.

One thing I am wondering is whether I could remove BitDefender from that computer to see if the camera worked? My concern is that I will not be able to add BitDefender back on because I have used my five computer options already?

Scott

https://community.bitdefender.com/en/discussion/comment/348886#Comment_348886

Hello,

As long as it was one of the initial installs from your subscription, one of the 5, you will be fine in uninstalling it, and if you wanted to reinstall it, would be no problem. I believe Bitdefender reads the mac address of the device, to confirm it can be reinstalled on that device without using an additional key. @Alexandru_BD can confirm that part.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2791/

See the 2nd tab:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/1443/

You would just need to make sure it was deleted from your Central account, My Devices, before reinstalling it on your device.

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2795/

Kind regards.

AndrewPK

Scott,

Thanks for the response, I appreciate it.

Best,

Andrew

Alexandru_BD

Hi @AndrewPK,

There's one more thing I woud try before uninstalling, I would temporarily disable all the security modules in Bitdefender one by one, to find out which one is the culprit. This procedure may take some time do do, but it's not complicated, it's just that there are a few switches to turn off then back on. Here's the full guide on this:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/28557/

Obviously, if this was tested with Support already, and the root cause could not be determined, there's no need to do it again. Disabling the security modules one at the time can often reveal if Bitdefender is blocking something and what part of it is responsible for the block. This means that in your case, the Thustar 8mp should be tested after each deactivation, in order to find out if a particular module is causing the issue, and after identifying it, usually there are some remediation steps that can be applied. But like I've said, it looks like your configuration there is very specific and I think there could be other things causing this incompatibility, but if you are certain that the device stopped working shortly after installing Bitdefender, then most probably an antivirus function is blocking it, and it may take some advanced troubleshooting to resolve this..

Keep us updated and if possible, let us know if this could be eventually resolved by the Support engineers, if Bitdefender was indeed causing it, or something else.

Although a long shot, I would also check Bitdefender's webcam protection feature:

https://www.bitdefender.com/consumer/support/answer/2028/

You can fiddle a bit with the settings there and see if that makes a difference, see if disabling this protection altogether changes anything.

Regards