Microsoft has shared an interim fix for a widespread issue triggered by a buggy driver that prevents the built-in cameras of some ARM-based Windows devices (including Surface Pro X laptops) from working.

The problems began last Tuesday, May 23, when many customers began reports that their cameras had stopped working without warning. Redmond says the bug does not affect cameras connected via USB, even when connected to affected Windows devices.

Affected systems include those running Windows 10 22H2 or Windows 11 21H2/22H2 and using the following processors: Qualcomm 8cx Gen 1, Qualcomm 8cx Gen 2, Microsoft SQ1, and Microsoft SQ2.

“We are aware that customers using Surface Pro X are currently experiencing issues with the built-in camera, and we are actively investigating it,” a Microsoft spokesperson told BleepingComputer a day before releasing a workaround for affected devices.

In an update added to the Windows build health page on Friday, Microsoft said it has started rolling out a troubleshooter designed to mitigate the issue, which will be applied automatically and cannot be run manually.

On managed devices where troubleshooters are disabled, you will need to manually apply the following temporary fix (a reboot is required upon completion):

1. Select the Start button and type orderthen right click or long press Command Prompt and select Execute as administrator.
2. Copy and paste the following command and run the command by pressing Enter: reg add “HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Qualcomm\Camera” /v EnableQCOMFD /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /f
3. ​Restart any application that uses the camera or restart your Windows device.
4. The built-in camera should now work as expected.

“This workaround may disable some camera functionality or reduce image quality, but should allow the camera to function until the issue is resolved by the device manufacturer with an updated camera driver,” Microsoft warned.

The company is now working with partner drivers and device manufacturers (OEMs) to provide a permanent fix for this known issue via a driver update.

Elsewhere on the Microsoft Community website, a Microsoft employee said affected users that Microsoft is “aware that customers using Surface Pro X were having issues with the built-in cameras and we have addressed this issue with a driver update”.

“Please go to Windows Update to install the new driver named Microsoft Corporation – System Hardware Update – 05/26/2023,” the Microsoft employee added.