I am adding to several similar topics that have appeared in this forum over the past two years as there does not seem to be any definitive solution to this problem. This topic must be very common as one particular thread has been read over 25,700 times! I apologize in advance for the length. However, I wanted to provide everyone with as much information of my own attempts, my experience with e-mailing D-Links’ Help Desk, and my experience with phoning D-Links’ Help Desk.
I had been using several versions of ViewCam on a Windows XP system for over two years with no major issues. I recently upgraded that system to Windows Vista. Now when I start Main Console, I get the following behavior:
ViewCam starts normally.
It connects to my camera and displays the camera’s image.
It displays "Trial" above the camera's name in the upper left corner of the image.
After a few seconds the camera disconnects and I get the message "The program will be restarted to apply a new setting". The only choice is to click on OK.
The message repeats every time ViewCam is restarted.
In reading about this issue in this forum, I have noted that a variety of solutions have helped some users, but for others no solution has helped. Seemingly unrelated changes can solve the problem: uninstalling and reinstalling ViewCam, installing ViewCam as an administrator, executing Main Console as an administrator, setting Compatibility to Windows XP, and turning off User Account Control (UAC). I tried all of them with no change.
After my own trials, I e-mailed the Help Desk. Their initial advice was to uninstall ViewCam, download the software, and reinstall it. Even though I had already done that more than once, I repeated those steps because there was a newer version of ViewCam and the Device Pack on their Web site. No change. The Help Desk suggested that I purge the Registry of all ViewCam and Main Console references. I uninstalled ViewCam, removed all references, and reinstalled ViewCam. No change. The Help Desk’s final advice was to call for further troubleshooting.
I called the Help Desk and told them that the changes to the Registry did not help. That was the extent of the practical solutions. Other alternatives were: either reinstall my operating system or install ViewCam on another computer. A last alternative was to buy one of their Network Video Recorder (NVR) devices as they are phasing out ViewCam.
I tried another change after speaking to the Help Desk. After I uninstalled ViewCam, I would notice that the folder C:\Programs Files\D-Link\D-ViewCam remained. I presume it is retained to maintain any recorded camera files, program settings, etc. No one suggested removing that, but I thought it was worth a try. So I renamed it and installed ViewCam once again. Still no change.
My main reason for sticking with ViewCam is that I have some recordings that I want to keep and replay. Also, the program has worked fine for me until recently.
Now I have come here for help. Does anyone have any other actions to try to solve this problem? Can someone at D-Link look at the Main Console program and see what triggers the message? There must be one or more IF-THEN statements with conditions that cause that message to be displayed. If we knew those conditions, we could take action to eliminate them. What is particularly frustrating for me is that Main Console initially works showing my camera’s image, then it is interrupted by the message and the endless restart loop. Perhaps the program could be modified to remove these conditions.
I await your help.
