HP Envy x360 Windows Hello Facial

[popemar]

Windows Hello Face no longer works on my HP Envy x360 running Windows 10 Home edition, currently build 19043.  The error message on startup states that there is a problem and it does not see the camera for facial recognition and to sign in with my PIN.  It stopped working quite a while back and removing the latest Windows updates and re-applying them fixed the problem but i now seem to be in a state where I cannot roll-back the updates to a point where it will work again and roll them forward.

I have seem many posts on the web regarding this and have tried the various suggestions without any success.

I have turned off Fast Start.  Trid to update the IR Camera driver but it says I am running the latest driver.  I have removed the IR Camera in the device manage and let it re-install itself.  The gpedit.msc option will not work because I am running Home edition apparently.

Can anyone suggest any other options than trying a complete re-install of Windows which obviously is an absolute pain.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Echo_Lake]

@popemar

Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.
 

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, however, to provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details:

• Did this happen after a recent window or software update?
• Have you made any hardware/software changes?
• Did you make any changes on the settings of your PC prior to the issue?

Firstly, perform Windows Update and HP Support Assistant: (do not skip any troubleshooting steps if you feel steps are repeating) 

To check for updates now, select the Start button, and then go to Settings  > Update & security  > Windows Update, and select Check for updates.

Install updates from HP Support Assistant: Go to Download HP Support Assistant to install the tool.

1. To open HP Support Assistant, double-click the HP Support Assistant icon .
2. Click My devices in the top menu, and then click Updates in the My PC or My notebook pane.
3. Click Check for updates and messages to scan for new updates.
4. Review the list of updates. Updates with a yellow information icon are recommended. Updates with a blue information icon are optional.
5. Click the update name for a description, version number, and file size.
6. Select the box next to any updates you want to install, and then click Download and install.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[popemar]

Hi, thanks for responding.  In answer to your questions:

It first happened several months ago and I suspected it may have been a Windows Update so I rolled back the most recent update and it started working again.  I then re-applied the update and it continued to work.  But this has happened maybe 3 times after that when, again, I was able to roll back and re-apply to fix it.  However, a month or more ago, it stopped working again but this time when I tried to roll back Windows Update and re-apply starting with the latest update, it was unsuccessful and it got to a point where Windows Update would not roll-back some of the updates.  So that was the end of that option.

I have run HP Support Assistant on a number of occasions over this time and applied the recommended updates but without any fixing the problem.

I also went on the HP Website and looked for any updates related to the IR Camera and found three with different dates/build available for the Realtek Camera and applied these starting with the oldest.  The first two did not fix the problem and the third would not install suggesting it was not a correct version for my laptop even though I had filtered by my model number.  BTW all these had dates a couple of years back.

I have seen other posts on this forum relating to this problem and have tried the suggestions in those where possible without success.  Some suggestions mention options I don't appear to have so, obviously, cannot try those.

Thanks

[Echo_Lake]

@popemar

Thank you for posting back. 

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue. I would suggest performing system factory reset will put the computer back to the original factory settings in this way all corrupted and outdated software will be removed. 

While doing the recovery there is an option to backup your personal files. If you have not previously done one now is a good time. 

Restoring Files that were Backed Up Using HP Recovery Manager (Windows )You can also contact HP support for assistance. They can remotely access your system to help alleviate difficulties: www.hp.com/contacthp/

The HP Cloud Recovery Tool allows you to download recovery software to a USB drive. You can use the downloaded recovery image file in order to install the Windows operating system. 

• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04758961#AbT3to perform System Recovery (Windows 10) 
• Click here: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c06162205 to Use the HP Cloud Recovery Tool (Windows 10)

And, also refer to HP PCs - Troubleshooting Windows Hello Face Recognition: https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05873680
 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[popemar]

Hi, thanks for the further advice.  Regrettably, your suggestion whilst probably going to fix the problem causes more disruption than not having facial recognition in Windows Hello because whilst I can back up my data files, I will need to re-install every app and configuration on my laptop.  I have had to do this previously and it took hours and a lot of effort to identify what I needed to do for each app, including any security details.  Although I think I have tried every option, surely, there must be a way to remove the offending software without such a drastic step.

I appreciate this is almost certainly due to Microsoft update of Windows so I understand the limitations HP are under, especially as I believe I have seen posts outside of the HP community regarding this problem.  So, perhaps I need to take it up further with Microsoft as all the suggestions I have seen from their support team do not fix the problem either.

Regards

[Echo_Lake]

@popemar
Thank you for remaining patient.

I would request you to contact our Support and our Support Engineers should be able to Remote into your computer and sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: www.hp.com/contacthp/