Skype4MP with video (4 Viewers)

[joecrow]

I have just completed a clean reinstall of Win 10 on my desktop PC and found that the new Skype ver. 8* does not support my webcam so gave up on it and decided to go back to Classic Skype, only to find it is no longer available. MS have pulled the installer so even if you find an old install.exe it bombs out as soon it tries to download the additional stuff. It seems that if you have an existing install of Classic Skype (like on my HTPC) it will continue to run but any updates will take it to the New Skype. Anyone tried this plugin with the New Skype?
UPDATE:- To answer my own question, I gave it a try but it doesn't even start up the New Skype, anyone @catavolt ? with any ideas.

 

[RoChess]

@joecrow have you tried debugging why webcam doesn't work in new Skype? I refuse to switch to the new Skype until Microsoft fixes the way multiple chat windows are handled. I enjoy individual windows and manage them nicely across many monitors, so all that new combined GUI crap drives me insane, and now I'm afraid to "try" out the new version out of fear I will not be able to return.

 

[joecrow]

have you tried debugging why webcam doesn't work in new Skype

Yes, I have a old Microsoft VX 1000 webcam (vintage 2007) and following the clean reinstall the camera was shown in the Device Manager as not having a driver! No drivers were available via the auto search method and the ones available manually from MS were for Win 7/8 and will not install/run even in compatibility mode. I am not alone with this problem there are a number of forum posts at MS and others and from there I found an alternative driver source that works with Win 10. So with the webcam now fully functional I again tried new Skype but it still did not find a device for video, googled again and confirmed that basically MS no longer support the VX 1000 so no Win 10 drivers or support for it in new Skype, it still apparently works with classic Skype but MS have dumped that too so I'm screwed. The previous Win 10 install on this PC was the original free upgrade from Win 7 and the VX 1000 webcam worked perfectly with classics Skype.
I'm not sure I will bother to buy a new webcam (whatever it for sure won't be a Microsoft one), it is so seldom used but I may try swapping it with a newer Logitech one I have on my HTPC just to see how the new Skype looks. Given that the plugin will most likely not work with new Skype and I guess won't be developed any further it is probably curtains for Skype4MP, unless there is a repository for classic Skype somewhere????? I tried via old versions but as soon as the installer tries to download the additional code it is redirected to the new Skype download.

UPDATE:- You can get Classic Skype (offline download) from the link on this page. All working again.

 

[RoChess]

Glad you got it working, and yes Logitech is a much better company to buy a webcam from, as they support their old crap for a long time with WHQL drivers. Eventually everything comes to an end though. Then again the VX 1000 is only 640x480, so you can seize the opportunity to get a nice 1080p or at least 720p camera.

Amazon has the Logitech C615 1080p webcam available as a refurb for $24.95, like new via Prime for $28.99, and brand new in OEM for $31.99
The C920 is a higher end model for $50.11

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078J631FJ/

PS: I tried out the new Skype (v12.13.274.0) again, and they still did not fix the multi-chat part, so you cannot split the contacts overview away from the chat-windows (unless I am totally overlooking a trick/setting for this). Still able to switch back to the latest older version (v7.40.0.151) by using the different shortcut to launch. When they introduced the new version it also killed off my usage of /secondary to have two instances of Skype running (one for personal and business usage). They still advocate it as an option on the support pages @ How can I run multiple Skype accounts at the same time? | Skype Support

 

[joecrow]

Yes, it is probably the right time to look for a better webcam, Conrad (Germany) have a good deal going at the moment, so I will take a look round. I looks like I have both shortcuts for the old and new, so if I do get another webcam I will have a play with the new version. Is the new version you ran the "Insider Preview" which I noted was available during my searches for Classic SKype?

 

[RoChess]

v12.13.274.0 is what Microsoft wants you to use on Windows 10 and will eventually become `the` Skype, and constantly harasses me if I want to try out the "new version".

Things are further complicated for me, because I'm unable to upgrade my Win10 environment to 1706, it runs the update, reboots, and then I'm back to the old version with no explanation as to why it failed. Going to have to sacrifice one of my MSDN support tickets on it, because it is impeding my work now with Edge not getting updated.

 

[joecrow]

v12.13.274.0 is what Microsoft wants you to use on Windows 10 and will eventually become `the` Skype, and constantly harasses me if I want to try out the "new version".

Yes that's a real nuisance.

Things are further complicated for me, because I'm unable to upgrade my Win10 environment to 1706, it runs the update, reboots, and then I'm back to the old version with no explanation as to why it failed. Going to have to sacrifice one of my MSDN support tickets on it, because it is impeding my work now with Edge not getting updated.

Good luck there, my experience with their support on update problems was not great. I had no problems with the update to 1709 but following the news of the CPU bugs around the end of last year I was somewhat alarmed to find that my desktop PC would not download or install the security fixes, (unlike my HTPC which was fully up to date), it was still installing Office and other updates but nothing for Windows since the middle of December. I manually downloaded two Windows updates at the beginning of Feb. and they installed without problem but contacted MS support after a further update was missed on the 13th Feb. After taking control of my PC and much troubleshooting it was escalated to 2nd level support, who after a further 30 mins or so troubleshooting declared there was no problem and the update would get installed over the next day or so, he clearly did not believe I had had to manually install the earlier missing updates. 2 weeks later and the Feb 13th update was still missing I again contacted MS support to continue troubleshooting the same ticket, the end result being that they accepted there was a problem but were not able to fix it and suggested an "Onboard Upgrade" might work, I vetoed that as I wanted to do a clean install to clean up the original free upgrade install from Win 7.
The clean install does seem to have fixed the update problem but that is what led to my problems with my webcam and Skype version.

 

[joecrow]

For some while now I have been getting the "Update now" window every time Skype is restarted and this has been interfering with MP startup after boot and finally possibly caused a Windows crash (had to sign in and set up Skype again). I had assumed the update would be to the new v12 version which MS has been pushing so strongly, so decided it was time to dump the Skype4MP plugin and have disabled it on my HTPC. None the less I do have the old Skype also installed on my Desktop PC and allowed the update to install and was pleasantly surprised to find the old version is still there and is now 7.41.0.101.. Very surprised that after making version 7 impossible to download officially, MS are still updating it.

 

[RoChess]

@joecrow, I refuse to press the `Try now` option, because they still make multi-window usage impossible, and for a large multi-monitor setup like mine it is vital to keep track of dozens of conversations. No idea why they are stubborn to just add that option in settings somewhere the same way it is configurable for v7.

 

[joecrow]

I have been getting a warning every time I start up Skype (ver.7.40 I think), see attached screenshot. I tried the update but it installs a version 8.xx that does not play with Skype4MP but looks much the same as the version 12 that you can get from the app. store. Now back on the ver. 7 and will wait and see if they will/can actually kill it. Not looking good though.