Messenger, Webcams, Microphones, etc

Hi all, I've recently had 'fun' setting up Windows Messenger for Audio/Video
conversations and thought I'd share my findings to help anybody else who is
trying to get this working. This is with Windows XP/ME with all updates
installed from the Windows Update site.

Here's my findings and solutions - enjoy:

1)
Problem:
- Windows would recognise my webcam, but not my built-in microphone, when
using the Audio/Video tuning wizard, there was no microphones that could be
selected.
Solution:
- The motherboard drivers once installed to Windows allowed the microphone
to work properly.
Notes:
- This is regardless of the drivers used for the USB webcam, when Windows XP
was installed the driver disk that came with the motherboard was never
used - even though there were no conflicts in the Device Manager, the
microphone could not be seen until the drivers were installed.

2)
Problem:
- People could hear me, I could hear them initially maybe for 5-10 seconds
then no more
Solution:
- Upgrade to Messenger 6.1
Notes:
- The Operating System differences as I've read on other emails played no
part in this problem
- The QOS (Quality of Service) was not installed so I cannot comment on
this.

3)
Problem:
- Computer randomly resets when using the WebCam
Solution:
- This occurred on Messenger 4.7 & 6.0, upgrading to 6.1 reduced the problem
where it would no longer happen until you exit Messenger after having a
conversation. This was acceptable.
Notes:
- This was a tricky problem to fix and is still a 'work-in-progress' -
although it may simply have to do with the webcams drivers more than
Messenger.

4)
Problem:
- Only one person can see the picture, the other is black or blank
Solution:
- Upgrading to 6.1 certainly helped here, although it had to do with lag
between the two sites and the ISP.
Notes:
- "off-peak" times worked better.

Hope this helps people - good luck!

Otherwise programs such as CUSEEME (hard to get) still work quite well