Integrated microphone does not work

Question

Windows 7 - microphone bug

Hello,

I have the same problem. I just installed Windows 7 and the integrated microphone (which worked fine with Vista) doesn't work anymore.

I tried everything suggested in the forum.  The mic volume is at 100%. Is there any driver I could try installing?

Answer 1

Hi acapella,

Thank you for using Microsoft Windows forum.

a) Did you purchase the system with a built-in microphone?

b) Are you using a Laptop or a desktop?

c) Have you tried contacting the manufacturer for the latest microphone drivers?

If not, get in touch with the manufacturer and ask/download/install the latest drivers.

Try the following steps given below and check in case you've missed out any steps.

Step 1: Connecting Microphone.

If your notebook does not have built • in Microphone, Connect an external Microphone.

If you connect the external Microphone, Make sure that you connect the Microphone in

the Microphone port.

•

Step 2: Using Windows Sound Recorder to test the microphone.

You can use this section to find out if the Notebook can record a signal from the

Microphone and play it back. Use Windows sound recorder to create an audio file using the following steps:

1. Plug the microphone into the computer.
2. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, and select Sound Recorder.
3. Click Start Recording (the red circle) and speak into the microphone.

When finished recording, click Stop Recording.

A save screen automatically opens.

Type a filename and click Save. A file of type WAV or WMA is created in the Documents folder.

If you can record the Audio using Microphone using the above method then the

Microphone is working fine. Now it should work any application or Messenger that

Supports Microphone. If the Notebook does not record audio using the above method then it could be an issue with the settings of the Microphone. Now verify the following settings.

Step 3: Enabling the Microphone.

1. Plug the microphone into the computer.
2. Click Start, All Programs, Accessories, and select Sound Recorder.
3. Click Start Recording (the red circle) and speak into the microphone.
4. Recording tab showing a detected signal for the Microphone device

Note: Microphone Icon should have Green check mark on it.

If there is no Green check mark, it means it is disabled. If there is No green mark on Microphone it never works. To enable the Microphone Right click on Microphone and click on Enable. If youdo not see the Microphone in the list, Right click on the White space and select Show disabled devices. Then you would see the Microphone. However, if you do not see the green check mark on it, Right click on it and click on Enable. And also Select Microphone and click on Set Default(If Set as default button is active).

If you see the Green check mark on Microphone the Microphone definitely works.

Step 4: Increasing Microphone Sensitivity and Un-muting the Microphone.

1. Select Microphone and click on Properties button.

Microphone Properties: Levels tab

2. Adjust the slider until to 100 % of its range.

If Mute is on, click the mute button to un-mute the device. The mute button should show as a blue speaker without any red circle.

3. If Mute is on, click the mute button to un-mute the device. The mute button should show as a blue speaker without any red circle.
4. If Microphone Boost is available, adjust to +20.0 dB.
5. Click OK to make the changes.

Now the Microphone should work. To verify this open the Sound recorder and perform the steps provided in Step 1. If the issue persists then it could be a hardware issue with the Microphone or Microphone drivers. Perform the below steps to resolve the Driver related issues.

Step 5: Update the audio drivers

1. Connect to the Internet.
2. Click Start, and enter device manager in the Start search field.

A Device Manager window opens.

3. Click the plus sign ( +), next to Sound, video and game controllers.
4. Right-click the name of the sound hardware and select Update Driver Software....
5. Click Search automatically for updated driver software and wait for Windows to update the driver software.
6. Windows checks a remote Web site to see if updated driver software is available.

·         If an update is available, let Windows install the update.

·         If an update is not available, skip to the next step.

7. Once the update is installed successfully, test the microphone or line-in as was done in step 1. If the problem persists, go to the next step.

If you've performed certain steps, ignore those and perform the steps that you have not yet performed.

If you've performed all of the above steps, I'd suggest you to get in touch with the manufacturer for the latest audio drivers for windows 7 since it is a relatively new Operating System.

You can also check your microphone compatibility with Windows 7 in the link given below

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/compatibility/windows-7/en-us/default.aspx

Hope it helped

Regards,

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support

Answer 2

Windows 7 - microphone bug

Hello,

I have the same problem. I just installed Windows 7 and the integrated microphone (which worked fine with Vista) doesn't work anymore.

I tried everything suggested in the forum.  The mic volume is at 100%. Is there any driver I could try installing?

reynaldo reyes

Answer 3

Thank you SO MUCH

Answer 4

Hi somepear,

Thank you for sharing your information with us. There are many users out there with similar issues and your suggestion would definitely help them.

Azeez Nadeem - Microsoft Support.

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Answer 5

This worked for me:

Right click on the little sound icon in the task bar (next to the time).

Choose "Recording Devices" from the right-click menu.

Disable the microphone!

When you do so, your line-in will automatically become the default device.

I don't think Windows 7 has a bug.  I think they just failed to make the microphone options intuitive.  When they say "Microphone" they really mean the internal mic.  External mics are apparently just line-ins to Windows 7.

Also not intuitive, before I disabled the microphone, the line-in said it was unavailable.  I thought, "Oh, it's unavailable, so if I disable the mic, I won't have any recording devices at all."  Obviously I misinterpreted "unavailable."

So yeah.  Easy in the end, but sheesh. 

Hope that works for you!