Notebook Hardware and Upgrade Questions

The camera on my Spectre x360 Convertible 13 disappeared a few weeks ago. It originally started malfunctioning (frozen picture) and then was just gone; I got the 0xA00F4244<NoCamerasAreAttached> error message. 

Background: the kill switch was not on, though it appears to be functioning (if I slide it to the on position, I get an onscreen notification that the camera is turned off). I have done all updates that appear through Windows Updates and the HP Assistant.

1. I contacted HP Support on Twitter, and they had me do a power drain/restart- that actually worked, for about a week. Then, it disappeared again, for no apparent reason (not due to any further updates or anything that I am aware of happening)

2. I contacted HP Support again, and they recommended I go into Device Manager, uninstall the device, restart, and then re-install the device. The camera was actually not even appearing in Device Manager at first; however, I was able to locate after selecting "Show Hidden Devices." However, after I uninstalled the camera and restarted my computer, I am completely unable to reinstall the camera. It does not appear when I run Scan for Hardware Changes or Add Legacy Hardware. 

3. I was able to initiate a support chat, and the person had me update the BIOS. I did that and restarted, and there was no visible change- still unable to detect or reinstall the camera

4. The only other suggested I've gotten so far is to back up my data and do a reset- which feels like the nuclear option, and I really don't want to do that. 

I'm really frustrated- I spent a lot of money on this computer, and this is a pretty essential functionality that has stopped working repeatedly. I would welcome any advice on getting this resolved now and preventing it from happening again. 

Thanks!