Webcam vb6 app working in Windows98?

[tedsmith]

I wrote a app some years ago that used the AVICap dll and other dlls satisfactorily to capture frames from a simple Logitech webcam (used XP).

I tried out the new Microsoft Lifecam studio on it an it worked as a straight plug in replacement on a computer with Windows 7 without having to install any more drivers.

I also tried it out on a Windows 7 laptop but it needed a download of the camera driver, then it worked.

I have a friend that wants to use the program on an old computer with Windows98 (he can't update because it has old hardware that only runs in Win98) This was before webcams became popular

My question is what sort of drivers (if any) could work in Windows98 so if there is anyone who got a webcam going in Win98, I would be grateful for some advice.

 

[strongm]

>I wrote a app some years ago

You did indeed.

>wants to use the program on an old computer with Windows98

I'm not certain that the AVICap library works properly on W98, no matter what drivers you load on to the machine. I believe the earliest supported OS was Windows 2000

Hopefully someone else out there will have some more positive advice for you.

 

[dilettante]

One of the entrypoints involved, as documentd in 2001:

capCreateCaptureWindowA

Requirements
* Windows NT/2000/XP: Included in Windows NT 3.1 and later.
* Windows 95/98/Me: Included in Windows 95 and later.
* Header: Declared in Vfw.h.
* Library: Use Vfw32.lib.
* Unicode: Implemented as Unicode and ANSI versions on Windows NT/2000/XP.

So it sounds as if in really old versions of the Windows SDK only the ANSI entrypoints are there, but they're there as static libraries for use in C++.

AVICap appears to be a window class, and AVICap.dll (16 bit) & AVICap32.dll were probably DLLs wrapping up the static libraries. I have found these DLLs listed as part of Win95_08.cab (from the installation CD) so they have been around for a while.

 

[dilettante]

Old Logitech webcams had Win9x drivers. Webcams were actually fairly common in the Win95 era, even sold in bundles with things like the ICQ client software.

But you need one for your specific hardware, and even the 3rd party driver aggregator/archive sites stopped carrying anything this old long ago. If you have a webcam from the era bridging Win98 and WinXP you might have better odds of finding drivers though.

 

[tedsmith]

Thanks for your advice.

Problem these days is getting a computer to run on Windows 98 to experiment with!

 

[dilettante]

How many would you like to buy?