Trying to get your XBox 360 Live Vision Camera working on your PC. Well, of course it SHOULD be Plug’n’Play…

I have found the hack to get the XP SP3 PC in my office to finally recognise it, and you may have the same problem. If you go to the Device Manager and look under USB devices and DON’T see “Security Method 3” after “Microsoft Live Vision Camera” then it is likely that the camera will not be recognised by XP. Trying to uninstall or update will give you the message that drivers are up to date. However, if you look at the properties for the camera it will tell you “No drivers are installed for this device” while also telling you that everything is fine!

What I did was to choose update, but not to automatically search. This then gives you the option to search locally, or to tell the wizard that you will choose. Given that it is impossible to download the driver as an install from Microsoft – Hey! It WAS meant to be Plug’n’Play remember! So, why would you WANT to download it manually? – what I did was to choose the bottom option, then choose the only option available “USB Composite Device”. Doing this, then miraculously allowed XP to then do the Plug’n’Play magic. Now in the Device Manager window, “Security Method 3” is appended to the camera, and everything “just works”.

My guess is a problem of certification with the 360 peripheral, as there is heavy handed protection certification in place to stop people using their own cheap peripherals on the console. This seems to have been confirmed by searches. Now all I want is for Microsoft to finally produce a driver for the ChatPad, which has been out for 2 years now. Here’s hoping.