R

I think the issue here does not lie with your laptop but with Windows Vista.
Lot of people have been facing the same issue in which the vista does not
recognize the integrated webcam. Besides that instant messengers like yahoo
have advertized that they are in the process of releasing new versions which
are totally vista compatible though they claim version 8.1 is compatible but
not completely. So the webcam problem lies partly with vista and partly with
the messengers.
webcam may or may not work with some messengers. However patches are surely
due and will come out soon as vista becomes the dominating os in a matter of
time.

for yahoo messenger, you can register on their website by which they will
mail you and let you know when their new version for windows vista releases.