I have a HP Elitebook 840r G4 laptop running windows 10 which is provided by my work. I hate squinting at a small screen, so have the laptop hooked up to a 27 inch 4k monitor via usb C (LG 27UL850). I am happy with this setup, however I have to frequently use the webcam for meetings. The problem is I have to have the laptop open just to use the webcam, which takes up added space on my desk. Therefore I need an external webcam that I can position on top of my 27 inch monitor.
The problem is, I don’t have admin rights on the laptop, and there is no way my employers would grant admin rights. The computer is very much locked down and I can’t install printer drivers etc. (they seem to have removed all drivers from the system that are not used) Therefore I don’t think many external webcams would work. One thing I thought of doing was buying the exact same webcam module that is installed in the laptop and soldering a USB plug on the end. A few youtube videos detail this. I wonder if this would work, as the drivers would already be installed on the work computer for that particular webcam? The problem is the webcam modules are quite expensive and I am currently staying away from home without any tools.
Maybe there is a simpler option? Device manager in windows details the following for the webcam:
HP HD Camera (Realtek) HP Universal Camera Driver (driver version 10.0.1629920018)
I wonder if I could buy a USB webcam off the shelf that is of identical underlying hardware and uses the same driver - but what model would this be? What is the best approach with this, are there any other hacks I could utilise?
The problem is, I don’t have admin rights on the laptop, and there is no way my employers would grant admin rights. The computer is very much locked down and I can’t install printer drivers etc. (they seem to have removed all drivers from the system that are not used) Therefore I don’t think many external webcams would work. One thing I thought of doing was buying the exact same webcam module that is installed in the laptop and soldering a USB plug on the end. A few youtube videos detail this. I wonder if this would work, as the drivers would already be installed on the work computer for that particular webcam? The problem is the webcam modules are quite expensive and I am currently staying away from home without any tools.
Maybe there is a simpler option? Device manager in windows details the following for the webcam:
HP HD Camera (Realtek) HP Universal Camera Driver (driver version 10.0.1629920018)
I wonder if I could buy a USB webcam off the shelf that is of identical underlying hardware and uses the same driver - but what model would this be? What is the best approach with this, are there any other hacks I could utilise?