Disable iSight camera

gwb67 wrote:
Is there a way to temporarily disable my internal iSight camera, so it is not active with any application that may call for it?

I am not sure what you mean by "call for it?"  YOU decide when to use your iSight.

Some apps such as iChat allow you to enable and disable the webcam from menu commands.

Other apps such as Photo Booth only use the camera when you click the button.

If you REALLY want to disable, scripts like this one can easily disable and enable iSight.

  http://techslaves.org/index.php?page=62

However, be aware that it simultaneously disables ALL USB webcams when active.

More complete info: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=11112666



P.S. Manually moving, renaming, or deleting files outside your Username/Documents folder is generally a BAD idea unless you KNOW how it will effect OS X.



Message was edited by: EZ Jim



Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight

I am not experienced with this in any way because I know fudging with strange files on my hard drive or messing with the physical inside of my computer is dangerous. I simply googled "disable isight".

Solution 1: Put a piece of translucent or opaque tape over the iSight.

Solution 2: Open up your computer and find and unplug your iSight. I'm not computer savvy, so I'm not sure where or how you would do this.

Solution 3: Find the file that activates the iSight and modify, move, or delete it. The file is located on your Macintosh HD in the System/Library/QuickTime/ folder and is named "QuickTimeUSBVDCDigitizer.component". To permanently disable the iSight delete the file (you may still be able to bring it back by choosing 'put back' in the Trash). To temporarily disable it you will have to copy the file to a backup folder elsewhere and then delete the original file. When you want to enable it again copy the backup file back to its original location. Although, other applications may still be able to access the iSight. This is not a permanent fix, meaning a computer hacker may still be able to use the iSight. The only options that will create a clean fix is Solution 1 and 2.

Solution 4: Download an application that will allow easy disable and enabling of your iSight. Try googling "iSight disabler".

Thanks for letting us know you got the info you needed, gwb67

Thanks for the Solved star, too!
Jim



Mac Pro Quad Core (Early 2009) 2.93Ghz w/Mac OS X (10.6.4)  MacBook Pro (13 inch, Mid 2009) 2.26GHz (10.6.4)
LED Cinema Display  G4 PowerBook 1.67GHz (10.4.11)  iBookSE 366MHz (10.3.9)  External iSight