Windows Hello face unlock no longer works in the dark



 Windows Central:

A recent Windows update has changed how Windows Hello face unlock works, now requiring a color camera in addition to IR sensors to authenticate you. That means it can no longer see you in low-light environments.

Microsoft says this change was made to fix a spoofing vulnerability in Windows Hello, meaning that although it no longer works in the dark, it should now be more secure as a result. It's just a shame that one of the advantages of using IR sensors to log in with your face is no longer applicable on Windows.


 Read more:

www.windowscentral.com

Windows Hello face unlock no longer works in the dark, and Microsoft says it's not a bug

A recent Windows update has changed how Windows Hello face unlock works, now requiring a color camera in addition to IR sensors to authenticate you. That means it can no longer see you in low-light environments.
www.windowscentral.com www.windowscentral.com
 
Click to expand...
Oddly, turning off the camera allows you to be recognized by the sensors alone. So... why not just ignore the camera in low light situations? It's difficult to imagine how that reduces security over turning the camera off!
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.4351, Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0
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    Home Brew
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    Intel Core i5 14500
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    Gigabyte B760M G P WIFI
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    LG 45" Ultragear, Acer 24" 1080p
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    5120x1440, 1920x1080
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    Silicon Power 2TB US75 Nvme PCIe Gen4 M.2 2280 SSD (backup)
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    External off-line backup Drives: 2 NVMe 4TB drives in external enclosures
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    Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750W
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    LIAN LI LANCOOL 216 E-ATX PC Case
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    Lots of fans!
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  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro 24H2, Build 26100.4351 Experience Pack 1000.26100.107.0
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brew
    CPU
    Intel Core i5 14400
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    Gigabyte B760M DS3H AX
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    32GB DDR5
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    Intel 700 Embedded GPU
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    Realtek Embedded
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    Crucial P310 2TB 2280 PCIe Gen4 eD NAND PCIe SSD
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    Microsoft Comfort Curve 2000
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    Verizon FiOS 1GB
    Browser
    Firefox
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    Malware Bytes & Windows Security
I wonder if this is the reason that I see some laptops ship with both Windows Hello cameras AND Windows Hello fingerprint sensors on the same machine.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built
    CPU
    Intel i7 11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A MB
    Memory
    64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
    3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
    1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
    5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
    Cooling
    Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.

    Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
hsehestedt said:
I wonder if this is the reason that I see some laptops ship with both Windows Hello cameras AND Windows Hello fingerprint sensors on the same machine.
Click to expand...
Some companies in the US require one or the other to be present when using your laptop on their premises.
I am unsure what added protection that brings.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro/All Channels
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Nitro ANV15-51
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS 3200-4500 Mhz 8 cores x 2
    Motherboard
    Sportage_RBH
    Memory
    32 GB DDR5
    Graphics Card(s)
    Radeon Graphic / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 8 GB GDDR6
    Sound Card
    AMD/Realtek(R) Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Integrated Monitor (15.3"vis)
    Screen Resolution
    FHD 1920X1080 16:9 144Hz
    Hard Drives
    Kingston OM8SEP4512Q 500 GB
    WDS500G2B0A-00SM50 500.1 GB
    PSU
    19V DC 6.32 A 120 W
    Cooling
    Dual Fans
    Mouse
    MS Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    Fiber 1GB Cox -us & IGB Orange-fr
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    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    VMs of Windows 11 stable/Beta/Dev/Canary
    VM of XeroLinux- Arch based & Debian 13 (Trixie)
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Insider Canary
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS X751BP
    CPU
    AMD Dual Core A6-9220
    Motherboard
    ASUS
    Memory
    8 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    AMD Radeon R5 M420
    Sound Card
    Realtek
    Monitor(s) Displays
    17.3
    Screen Resolution
    1600X900 16:9
    Hard Drives
    1TB 5400RPM
hsehestedt said:
I wonder if this is the reason that I see some laptops ship with both Windows Hello cameras AND Windows Hello fingerprint sensors on the same machine.
Click to expand...
For the past five years I've used both Windows Hello Face and Fingerprint on my last two Dell XPS laptops. I like having both readily available for use.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 16 9640
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 9 185H
    Memory
    32GB LPDDR5x 7467 MT/s
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 8GB GDDR6
    Monitor(s) Displays
    16.3 inch 4K+ OLED Infinity Edge Touch
    Screen Resolution
    3840 x 2400
    Hard Drives
    1 Terabyte M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
    Cooling
    Vapor Chamber Cooling
    Mouse
    None
    Internet Speed
    960 Mbps Netgear Mesh + 2 Satellites
    Browser
    Microsoft Edge (Chromium)
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    Microsoft Windows Security (Defender)
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    Microsoft 365 subscription
    Microsoft OneDrive 1TB Cloud
    Microsoft Visual Studio
    Microsoft Visual Studio Code
    Microsoft Sysinternals Suite
    Microsoft BitLocker
    Microsoft Copilot
    Macrium Reflect X subscription
    Dell Support Assist
    Dell Command | Update
    1Password Password Manager
    Amazon Kindle for PC
    Lightroom/Photoshop subscription
    Interactive Brokers Trader Workstation
It's been a while (a couple of months) since windows hello didn't work in low light conditions. I thought it was something wrong with my camera.
edit: I disabled the integrated camera and hello now is working in dark conditions.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Yoga 7 Pro
    CPU
    Ultra Core Ultra 9 185H
    Motherboard
    Lenovo
    Memory
    32GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel Arc
One HP laptop needed the webcam to be disabled, so face and fingerprint work. My more recent ASUS laptop, without fingerprint reader, continues to work fine in the dark without disabling the webcam device. Strange.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP / Spectre x360 Convertible 13
    CPU
    i5-8250U
    Motherboard
    83B9 56.50
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Intel(R) UHD Graphics 620
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition Audio(SST)
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080
    Hard Drives
    Toshiba 256GB SSD
    Internet Speed
    500Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox, Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
TraderGary said:
For the past five years I've used both Windows Hello Face and Fingerprint on my last two Dell XPS laptops. I like having both readily available for use.
Click to expand...
Same for me. Sometimes the facial
Quandary said:
One HP laptop needed the webcam to be disabled, so face and fingerprint work. My more recent ASUS laptop, without fingerprint reader, continues to work fine in the dark without disabling the webcam device. Strange.
Click to expand...
One thing to note if you are behind on builds a little bit - there was a bug with facial recognition recently. Forgive me, I don't recall the exact build, something like 3900. MS fixed it very quickly so it is now no longer a problem.

If anyone needs exact builds, let me know. I can go to a Macrium Reflect backup of my system where I documented it because my Lenovo was affected.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Win11 Pro 24H2
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Self-built
    CPU
    Intel i7 11700K
    Motherboard
    ASUS Prime Z590-A MB
    Memory
    64GB (Waiting for warranty replacement of another 64GB for 128GB total)
    Graphics Card(s)
    No GPU - Built-in Intel Graphics
    Sound Card
    Integrated
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP Envy 32
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    1 x 1TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 2TB NVMe SSD
    1 x 4TB NVMe SSD
    3 x 512GB 2.5" SSD
    1 x 4TB 2.5" SSD
    5 x 8TB Seagate Barracuda HDD
    PSU
    Corsair HX850i
    Case
    Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case
    Cooling
    Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Home Computer Specifications, Configuration, and Usage Notes General Specifications ASUS Prime Z590-A motherboard, serial number M1M0KC222467ARP Intel Core i7-11700K CPU (11th Gen Rocket Lake / LGA 1200 Socket) 128GB Crucial Ballistix RGB DDR4 3200 MHz DRAM (4 x 32GB) Corsair iCUE RGB 5000X mid tower case Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black CPU cooler Noctua NF-S12A chromax.black.swap case fans (Qty. 7) & Corsair LL-120 RGB Fans (Qty. 3)
    Keyboard
    Corsair K70 Max RGB Magnetic Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1 Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    The five 8TB drives and three 512GB SSDs are part of a DrivePool using StableBit DrivePool software. The three SSDs are devoted purely to caching for the 8TB drives. All of the important data is stored in triplicate so that I can withstand simultaneous failure of 2 disks.

    Networking: 2.5Gbps Ethernet and WiFi 6e
  • Operating System
    Win11 Pro 23H2
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo ThinkBook 13x Gen 2
    CPU
    Intel i7-1255U
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics card(s)
    Intel Iris Xe Graphics
    Sound Card
    Realtek® ALC3306-CG codec
    Monitor(s) Displays
    13.3-inch IPS Display
    Screen Resolution
    WQXGA (2560 x 1600)
    Hard Drives
    2 TB 4 x 4 NVMe SSD
    PSU
    USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 Power / Charging
    Mouse
    Buttonless Glass Precision Touchpad
    Keyboard
    Backlit, spill resistant keyboard
    Internet Speed
    1Gb Up / 1Gb Down
    Browser
    Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender
    Other Info
    WiFi 6e / Bluetooth 5.1 / Facial Recognition / Fingerprint Sensor / ToF (Time of Flight) Human Presence Sensor
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