Microphone Problems

[Sakuya]

I have a headset with a microphone and I use it to call family using Skype. I've been using it for many months now. But right after I come back from vacation last week, the mic portion stopped working for some reason. I can still hear things fine only that it won't record what I say. I think I've tried all the possible options but it still won't work:

1. I made sure the jacks are plugged in correctly. Mic is the pink slot. Headphone is the green slot.

2. I unmuted and muted the Microphone slider on the Volume Control.

3. I tested the microphone using the program that came with it. It won't detect my voice.

4. Also tested using Window's Sound Recorder, no voice.

5. I tried plugging the jacks in the back of the computer instead of the front, same thing.

I use Windows XP. The funny thing is when I login to the Admin user account, even though all the settings are set the same, when I try to record things, it would record the sounds that's played on the computer (such as the "ding" when you mess with the Master Volume slider) but not my voice. That's only on the Admin account though. The normal account it won't record anything. At least now I know the microphone is not defective.

Any help would be nice. Thanks!

[jagabo]

Make sure the default input source is set to the Mic, not Line In or some other source. You do this from the System Mixer. Double click on the speaker icon in the System Tray. Select Options -> Properties. Tick the Recording button. Make sure Microphone is enabled. Press OK. You will then be back at the mixer with the input controls rather than the output controls. Make sure Microphone is Selected as the input device.

[Sakuya]

Thanks. I tried your instructions but the "Recording" option is grayed out. Instead, I double-clicked on the orange speaker in the System Tray which is labeled "Realtek HD Audio Manager". I went into "Mixer" and messed with the "Recorder Balance" controls.

Then it suddenly started working again! I reverted the controls to how it was before and it still works now. Although I still don't know what happened, at least it's working now.