EDIT2 (by the asker):
The old <=2001 Labtec camera can be used on both Windows 32bit and 64bit in any program
You may try alternative drivers.
You would have to identify the chipset your Webcam uses.
As an example, I have two old webcams (different brands) which use the chipset OV511.
The latest drivers available are for Win XP, so I was out of luck.
There are drivers for Linux, though, so there is still some possible use for them.
While looking for an answer to my issue, I came across a post from someone who had an old webcam with OV519 (too bad it was not OV511), for which there were no supported drivers.
Nevertheless, he found drivers for other webcams, with the same chipset, that worked under Win 7.
Quite a few people acknowledge in the comments below the post that the procedure resuscitated their old webcams.
It requires some digging.
Useful? :
http://deviceinbox.com/drivers/1262-labtec-webcam-driver.html
EDIT:
Maybe some of this, or similar Google searches, help you.
EDIT2 (by the asker):
Though I have asked the question, it is best to report inside this accepted answer and add some screenshots. I used the help of the second link, the results are OK, it is worth the effort (!) and real "Arcade" fun (!!).
(I imagine that this could also be fun for children to play with, calling myself was already weird / surreal fun)
Perhaps calling in a serious meeting adds some fun as well without a high resolution cam. You even look younger and better, seriously :), because everything is smoothened and friendly. And you do not feel so much exposed in any detail anymore. This low level quality could even be better than high resolution for privacy reasons, it adds easiness. Some users might not like being recorded by a high-resolution camera for hours, and this is a funny workaround.
The steps:
Install the 64bit program. In the end, it says that the setup is not compatible with the system, but at that point, the program is already extraced with all needed files to C:\Program Files (x86)\Labtec\WebCamWebInstall
After right-click on the setup.exe
, in Properties, change to:
Only the compatibility mode of Windows Vista worked. Windows 98 / ME, Windows 7, Windows 8 and Windows XP did not work. Surprisingly, Vista is the bridge between "old and new 64bit world".
Then you install the program by running setup.exe
. You will not need any extra driver file or driver installation, it is all done by the program.
The program supports some selected programs.
Luckily, you can also use the camera outside of this selection, the zoom test meeting worked, https://zoom.us/test, inviting myself on my mobile phone, sound and video working fine (after configuring my micro with Boost microphone input, as a side-remark).
The old Labtec camera zooms in quite strongly, which is needed to reduce the effects of a too low resolution, the rest is OK. For the following picture, the lenses of the mobile phone and of the Labtec camera were right next to each other, this is a screenshot of my iPhone.
Result: Taking quite some time here has paid off for the community, hopefully more people will find out about this, many thanks to @sancho.sReinstateMonicaCellio. Happy playing!