Laptop webcam takes hundreds of photos when asleep/idle + Windows Upda

So i'm not sure if I can/should get any help here with these handful of random issues I seem to be dealing with or not. Some are hardware and some are software as well. 

In no particular order my problems are as follows:

First, my integrated webcam appears to take literally hundreds of pictures of nothing when it is either closed, while running, or left idle. From the digging I have done, it doesn't appear to take any images of anything while active and malware scans with Spybot bring up nothing that appears to be a threat of hijacking the camera. My computer's stock "camera roll" folder just loads up with literally dozens of images of blackness after a couple of days if left on.

Second, Windows Updater is somehow screwed up and doesn't want to run, which of course is causing all kinds of issues with things(incl. win10 download, which I think I should avoid for a bit anyway). I have downloaded Windows troubleshooting tools recently and they don't seem to be capable of providing the fixes or directions for fixing whatever the problems are.

Third, and i'm sure it could be fixed with updates above, but when I connect to my TV via HDMI and watch a movie, the sound will cut out and the volume will slowly increase back to normal every time sound stops. I've read a bit around on that as well in the past, and there seems to be some sort of driver issues, but I cannot seem to be able to fix it either.

And fourth, the system seems to be running a bit slowly overall, I'm running windows 8.2 and I know there's a lot of bloat associated with it. I am hoping there's a way besides just turning off startup programs and whatever else. It just seems to be running rather slowly for a somewhat new computer. I just bought it late February, so it's really not that old.

I am running
Windows 8.2 (build 9600) 64 Bit
8gb RAM
Intel Core i5-4210U CPU @ 1.70GHz
Realtek High Definition Audio Driver Version 6.0.1.7231
Video Card Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
Dedicated Memory 32.0 MB
Total Memory 1.8 GB
1TB HDD


Thanks in advance!
 

to be honest nothing sounds like a hardware problem, everything sounds like software/driver or malware issues.

first thing i'd think i'd do is pop into the malware removal part of the forum here :- http://forums.whatthetech.com/index.php?showforum=27

start a new topic and post the required logs and let the experts look things over to make sure you have no malware, then when you know the machine is clean and if your still having problems either post back here or start a new topic in the software microsoft windows part of the forum for further help.