[faked]

Recently have had the problem of my camera turning on by itself.I have a Toshiba Satellite with Windows 8.
Anyway,a few times when I shut the lid to my laptop,upon opening,the video camera would be on and recording.After hearing about all this spying crap,it made this seem very creepy.I'm glad I had my camera and microphone turned off.I also have both blocked.When It happened again this morning,I uninstalled the camera and disabled the microphone.What made it seem REALLY creepy was the camera and the mike were turned off.
Has anyone else had this problem?And would turning off remote assistance help or hurt?
Oops,forgot to mention.Broke down and put a Win 8.1 in it.I'm okay with it other than this camera shit.BTW,I noticed I misspelled camera in the title.Sorry about that.

[Mark]

I'm not sure about the remote assistance thing, but the camera and mic spying has been an issue ever since the big push in the educational system to get a laptop and internet access in the hands of every student in the country. A few teachers have been busted for spying on their student's cams. And other students have reported those items being turned on. I have no idea how widespread of a problem it really is.

[blizzart]

grouchbag, on 26 October 2013 - 01:36 AM, said:

Recently have had the problem of my camera turning on by itself.I have a Toshiba Satellite with Windows 8.
Anyway,a few times when I shut the lid to my laptop,upon opening,the video camera would be on and recording.After hearing about all this spying crap,it made this seem very creepy.I'm glad I had my camera and microphone turned off.I also have both blocked.When It happened again this morning,I uninstalled the camera and disabled the microphone.What made it seem REALLY creepy was the camera and the mike were turned off.
Has anyone else had this problem?And would turning off remote assistance help or hurt?
Oops,forgot to mention.Broke down and put a Win 8.1 in it.I'm okay with it other than this camera shit.BTW,I noticed I misspelled camera in the title.Sorry about that.

Maybe your system is infected.
Try to get a bootable antivirus - LIve CD (AVG, Avira, or any other) and scan your sytem for viruses and trojans with it. Or make a clean install of your OS.

EDIT: Do you have any Anti-Theft software installed on your system. This could also be a reason for your problems.

[faked]

Mark., on 26 October 2013 - 07:18 AM, said:

I'm not sure about the remote assistance thing, but the camera and mic spying has been an issue ever since the big push in the educational system to get a laptop and internet access in the hands of every student in the country. A few teachers have been busted for spying on their student's cams. And other students have reported those items being turned on. I have no idea how widespread of a problem it really is.

Well,I can tell you it's not a teacher.But your help HAS been noted and appreciated.But,sorry to say,I've been out of high school for 45 yrs.But anything is possible.

[faked]

blizzart, on 26 October 2013 - 02:23 PM, said:

Maybe your system is infected.
Try to get a bootable antivirus - LIve CD (AVG, Avira, or any other) and scan your sytem for viruses and trojans with it. Or make a clean install of your OS.

EDIT: Do you have any Anti-Theft software installed on your system. This could also be a reason for your problems.

Hi Blizzart.Thanks for answering.I think I'll try for a live cd,maybe both of your suggestions.I'll make a clean install if I have to,though.I have a lot of stuff I'd hate to lose,but it can all be replaced.
No,I don't have any anti-theft software in my computer,have not heard good things about it.I know one thing though.I'll use a different laptop to download a live cd.
While this problem happened about 5 or 6 times,at least it hasn't since I uninstalled the camera.
Thank you very much for your help.It just goes to show how great you and other forum members are at helping out.I've ALWAYS gotten good advice from people here.I will make sure to let you know how this turns out.Again,thanks!

[Radar]

People could be spying on you through your camera without the indicator light being on. You could always put a piece of tape on your camera.

[Lunick]

If you don't use your camera then just put some tape over it or if you feel even more destructive, uninstall the drivers for it.

[The Commander]

You can fix the title typo by using the full editor if you edit your first post.

[faked]

Okay,now I'm on a different computer while downloading a live cd.An old dell w/vista.Oh,well,it works.First,typo corrected.Thanks!
I not only don't use my camera,it's taped over.Also uninstalled the drivers.Voila!No more camera!( I hope)
I say thanks to all for your help.This the only place I will trust when having a problem like this.Believe me,I dont't know as much as the rest of you.

[The Commander]

You can always trust us here, I suggest you try this if it doesn't work.

[Lunick]

I saw the title of that video and I just knew who uploaded it...

[faked]

The Commander, on 26 October 2013 - 05:06 PM, said:

You can always trust us here, I suggest you try this if it doesn't work.

That was golden!Soooooo tempting!Can't though,because my lap top is a 2013 model.bought last Jan.Finished paying it off about 3 months ago.And yes,I know I can trust you guys.That goes without saying.
Anyway,tried the AVG,but laptop wouldn't load it.So,I'll try the Avira.The worst it can do is not work.But I WILL try.Thanks again for the LOL.

[Jimmy]

Just use Microsoft Security Essentials, it's way better than AVG and Avira. And then you can use Malware Bytes Anti-Malware for nasty infections.

[faked]

Jimmy, on 26 October 2013 - 06:50 PM, said:

Just use Microsoft Security Essentials, it's way better than AVG and Avira. And then you can use Malware Bytes Anti-Malware for nasty infections.

Tried to put in Security Essentials,but it say it's built in to the Windows Defender.Also,I was able to install the malware removal tool.It did let me do that.Avira wouldn't run either,secure boot would not let it.Anyway,scanned it with Defender,says no viruses found.Anyway,I probably won't have problems since the camera drivers are uninstalled.The camera lens will remain covered.Haven't had problems since the drivers were uninstalled yesterday morning.If it does happen again,I'll just do the recovery.That's easy enough,just takes a while.
Anyway Jimmy,I thank you for your help as well.You've all been great!Hope this won't happen to anyone else.

[faked]

Turns out there WAS a virus i my laptop.It came through Firefox.Several people in my apt building got it at the same time.Problem solved.Thanks again for all help!