Windows updates affecting Zoom
Q: After the latest Windows update I noticed that my microphone and webcam were no longer working when using Zoom or any other application for that matter. How can I get these to work again?
A: I am not entirely sure why this happened, but I have seen it happen to more than a few computers after the last batch of updates from Microsoft.
The first thing you’ll want to check is that the hardware itself is still being detected by your operating system.
Open up the Device Manager and look for Audio inputs and outputs; make sure your microphone is there and doesn’t have any indication of any errors or problems. Do the same thing for your webcam by looking in the Cameras section to see if Integrated Webcam is listed.
If this all looks good, click on Search and type Settings and hit “Enter.” Now click on Privacy. In this window, scroll down to App permissions. Here you can change the settings for your camera and your microphone to allow apps to access them.
Q: Here recently, whenever I go to print a document, my computer crashes with a blue screen that says my PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. Do you know how I can fix this?
A: Microsoft acknowledges that there is a problem with one of their Windows 10 updates that causes this very issue. If you have installed the March 2021 cumulative update which includes KB5000802, this may be what is causing the problem. The quickest way to fix this while you wait for another update is to remove the KB5000802 patch.
You can do this by opening up the Add Remove Programs window in the control panel and then clicking on “View installed updates.” Then, using the search window, look for KB5000802. You can then highlight it and uninstall it.