At some point in the recent past, I must’ve struck the F10 key on my Asus Zenbook A14. How do I know that? Because the Fn keys on the top row of that laptop serve dual purposes. As I’ve now learned, F10 toggles the A14 camera on and off. That explains why Windows Hello facial recognition quit working on that PC: I had turned off the camera!

If you look at the camera symbol in Windows Hello setup (lead-in graphic), the left-to-right slash means “no camera!” Indeed, seeing that symbol sent me down the “turn it back on” path.

Tiny Orange LED sez: F10 Toggles A14 Camera

Now that I know what to look for, I also see a teeny-tiny orange LED at the left of the half-height F10 key. In fact, the glowing LED tells me that the camera is inactive. Good to know.

Better still, once I turn the camera back on, the machine amazes me with how quickly Windows Hello recognizes me and logs me in when I sit down in front of it.

To steer clear of other potholes, I had Copilot build me a table of Fn/hotkeys for my further education and enlightenment. So, here goes:

Here in Windows-World, it pays to know and use the controls for one’s hardware. Admittedly, I’ve been remiss in not learning these controls sooner. However, now I know, and I consider myself better qualified to drive this thing.

Of course, let’s see what kind of upcoming accident propels my understanding further. After all, that’s often how I learn things best: try it and see what happens! Or, sometimes, try it by accident and learn what I just did.