USB endoscope on Windows without the app

First, which kind of camera is it?

If your endoscope works in Windows Camera, Zoom or a generic viewer such as AMCap, it is a standard webcam (UVC) and you don't need this site. If it appears in Device Manager but no camera app finds it, or it insists on the UseePlus app, it is a "supercamera" protocol device, and this page is for you. In Device Manager, the device's Hardware Ids will read VID_2CE3&PID_3828 (or VID_0329&PID_2022).

The one-time driver step

For a web page to talk to a USB device on Windows, the device needs the generic WinUSB driver. The bundled software often installs its own driver instead. The free, well-known tool for assigning WinUSB is Zadig. This is the route the open-source drivers for this camera document; we have not run it ourselves yet, so if it behaves differently for you, tell us.

1. Close the UseePlus software if it is installed.
2. Run Zadig. In its Options menu tick List All Devices.
3. In the device list pick the endoscope; it may be listed twice, as Interface 0 and Interface 1. Do each one.
4. Choose WinUSB as the target driver and press Replace Driver (or Install Driver).
5. Unplug and replug the camera.

To undo this later, Device Manager, the device, Uninstall device, tick "delete the driver software", then replug.

Then open the viewer

1. Open the viewer in Chrome or Edge.
2. Press Connect camera and pick the device.

Photos and clips are saved into a folder you choose once. Nothing is uploaded.

Common snags

• "Device descriptor request failed" or error code 43/31 in Device Manager: a cable or port problem rather than software. Try a different port, a shorter cable, and USB 2 rather than a USB 3 hub.
• "Another program has the camera": close the vendor software or the other browser tab. Details.