Solved Windows Hello Facial Recognition Stopped Working

Hey there,

Windows Hello just stopped working on my MSI laptop today. Here's what I've already tried:

- uninstalled and reinstalled, can't get past the "Make sure your face is centered in the frame" message.
- uninstalled and reinstalled the HD camera and IR camera
- reset Windows biometrics
- confirmed the camera is working, recorded test video
- stop, start, restart Windows Biometric Service
- tried setting it up under a new user account
- removed and then set up again PIN sign-in option (I don't have fingerprint sensor)

So yeah, kind of out of ideas here, lol. I haven't done any updates for about 2 weeks, no recent software installs, etc. Interesting to note, when I'm trying to set up the facial recognition, the little white light flashes and my camera indicator in the screen frame blinks, but...no "error" messages about not enough light, too close to camera, etc, etc. It just sits there doing nothing till I cancel it out. One other thing to mention...I've just purchased a new TV and I've been connecting to it via HDMI to play video content for the last 2-3 weeks. No idea why that would matter, however? And, just for the sake of completeness...was out for a bit yesterday and when I came back home and logged into my laptop, my brightness and/or contrast in Edge was waaay out of whack - super washed out. I had to reboot to get it back to normal. I mention this because when I try to set up facial recognition, the camera image is pretty dark - despite seeing a much brighter image in the regular Windows camera app, for example, under the same lighting conditions? Any suggestions?

Hi, welcome.

Full disclosure, I don’t use Windows hello. But I did read that MSI GPU’s have GPU modes?

Allegedly, switching between different GPU modes (Discrete, MSHybrid, or Integrated) can cause Windows Hello issues.

And has anything in your BIOS changed?

I also read that Core Isolation, memory integrity can cause an issue. But I am not sure that I would disable it:
Settings > Privacy & Security > Core isolation, and turn off Memory Integrity, then restart your system.
And it wouldn’t explain why it’s all of a sudden just started.

With the combined stuff happening, I am wondering if you’ve checked your GPU?

There is a thread from a while back. Not sure if anything in there is useful to you. But the members issue was fixed.

Now ain't that just a kick in the pants! Thank you very much for your reply, @antspants!! MSI offers different default software utility apps depending on which laptop you've got - different names for relatively similar tools. In my case, the app is called, "Dragon Center". After reading your post, I opened Dragon Center and under Home/General Settings there is an option called, "GPU Switch". In my case, at least, there are only two options - "MSHybrid Graphics Mode", and "Discrete Graphics Mode". The current selection in my case was the former, MSHybrid Graphics Mode. I switched it to Discrete Graphics Mode, after which the system automatically reboots.

After the reboot, my first clue that we were onto something was the error message Windows gave me upon login. It said that my PIN was no longer working/available, and did I want to reset it. For that first login, I just switched over to my password and logged in that way. After logging in, and going to my sign-in options, it actually looked like my PIN was still set up?? But, I deleted the option anyway and then went back in and set it up fresh. After which, I went to the facial recognition option and started the setup, and...Voila! It worked!!

Just for kicks, I then went back into Dragon Center and changed the GPU Switch back to MSHybrid Graphics Mode. The system rebooted again, came back with the same error message - PIN not setup/working. I repeated the steps listed above, rebooted for good measure, and when the login screen came up, facial recognition was once again working under the MSHybrid Graphics Mode. Fascinating, isn't it, lol??

As to what may have caused the whole mess...just a guess on my part, but I've noticed my new TV will flash up an indication that it's apparently using my Nvidia GPU vs the Intel UHD Graphics when I connect my laptop via HDMI? Not sure if that has anything to do with the sudden issue I had with facial recognition, but...it's the only recent "change" I'm aware of? Regardless, the issue appears to be solved for now, so I is a Happy Camper again!!

I love reading that things are resolved. Well done!

theopold said:

just a guess on my part, but I've noticed my new TV will flash up an indication that it's apparently using my Nvidia GPU vs the Intel UHD Graphics when I connect my laptop via HDMI?

Click to expand...

Very likely possibility that this is causing a change in the GPU modes. I couldn’t say for certain. Did you happen to notice a change in modes after attaching the TV?

Oooh! Don't know yet. I just literally did that fix and it's still mid-afternoon here, lol. But!! I will be connecting it to my TV again later this evening and report back

Yeah please do tell us.

What is it you plug your TV in for, again?

I connect to mine wirelessly for streaming or movies on my PC, via PLEX. Well to be more precise, it’s connected to the router, wirelessly. So it’s on the same network.

Something else to be aware of: There was a known issue with Windows Hello facial recognition just recently. The problem was introduced after your build (in 26100.3902) and then resolved in build 26100.3909. I even opened a case with Lenovo on this prior to 3909 being released.

As a result, you might consider just trying build 26100.3909 or 26100.3915 to see if it helps, even though technically the issue that it is resolving came after your build. Just thinking that since they tweaked this functionality there may be a slim chance that it helps your situation. If you prefer not to install a preview release, just wait until May 13 for the officail Patch Tuesday release.

I'm bringing this up mainly to discourage you from installing 26100.3902 since that will interfere with your troubleshooting since it has a known Windows Hello facial recognition problem.

Reference:


From the above link:

antspants said:

What is it you plug your TV in for, again?

Click to expand...

I plug it into my TV for watching movies on my PC. I've tried connecting wirelessly via Settings/System/Display/Multiple Displays/Connect to a Display Wirelessly, but...I get lagging issues, etc.?? I haven't had a chance to try and diagnose the issue?

hsehestedt said:

As a result, you might consider just trying build 26100.3909 or 26100.3915 to see if it helps, even though technically the issue that it is resolving came after your build.

Click to expand...

Thank you for mentioning this :) Windows Update is currently offering me 26100.3915, but I haven't opted for installing it yet. I've got some third-party apps that often lag a bit in terms of compatibility with a new build so I typically delay such updates for a bit. I will do the update soon, however - especially if the original issue reoccurs...

theopold said:

I plug it into my TV for watching movies on my PC. I've tried connecting wirelessly via Settings/System/Display/Multiple Displays/Connect to a Display Wirelessly, but...I get lagging issues, etc.?? I haven't had a chance to try and diagnose the issue?

Click to expand...

Using something like PLEX (or similar) you don’t need to connect wirelessly to the PC, just the router. being on the same network, your PC acts as a Media Server.
There are other apps like PLEX, I just don’t know what they are.

antspants said:

Yeah please do tell us.

What is it you plug your TV in for, again?

I connect to mine wirelessly for streaming or movies on my PC, via PLEX. Well to be more precise, it’s connected to the router, wirelessly. So it’s on the same network.

Click to expand...

Just a quick update...I've once again been connecting my PC to the TV via HDMI for the last couple of nights, and...no issues with facial recognition, it's still working fine! So yeah, not sure how/why the issue occurred previously, but I'll report back here if it ends up coming back in the near future