Microphone volume too low

Hi Laura17,

Some mobile PCs have an external volume control on the outside of the case. Check the external volume control.

Make sure your headphones are not plugged into the line out (headphone) jack of your sound card or computer (unless you want to be listening with headphones rather than speakers). When you plug in headphones, most computers automatically cut the sound to the speaker

Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services for No Sound in windows 7

Lets try Microsoft Automated Troubleshooting Services for No Sound in windows 7, Visit the link below and click on green button that says "Run Now" and follow the instructions appears on the screen.

http://support.microsoft.com/gp/no_sound

Follow the steps given below and check if it helps

There could be a possibility that the recording device could be faulty or the driver could be missing since you get a message "An audio recording device cannot be found"

Step 1 : To check if a driver is faulty

You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.

1.    Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager.‌ If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2.    Double-click the appropriate device category, and then look for an entry for the device you are having a problem with.

3.    Right-click the entry for the recording device, and then click Properties.

4.    Click the General tab, and then look in the Device status box to see if it mentions any problems with the device—specifically, a problem with the driver.

If you suspect that a driver you received from the manufacturer is faulty, contact the manufacturer.

Step 2 : Try to update the driver.

Some devices have drivers that you need to install yourself. If you download a driver that isn't self-installing, follow these steps:

You must be logged on as an administrator to perform these steps.

1.    Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager.‌ If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2.    In Device Manager, locate the recording device and then double-click the device name.

3.    Click the Driver tab, and then click update Driver and follow the instructions.

Check the link to manually re-install the drivers

Update a driver for hardware that isn't working properly

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Update-a-driver-for-hardware-that-isnt-working-properly

Step 4 : Uninstall and reinstall a driver

 1.    Open Device Manager by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel , clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Device Manager.

 If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

2.    Locate it, right click on it and select properties .

3.    Go to driver tab and click on Uninstall button to uninstall the driver associated with the device.

Once the uninstall completes, restart your computer, it will automatically detect and install it again, and install the new driver which you downloaded from the manufacturer’s website.

Step 5 : Check Audio Services:

1. Click Start, type Services.msc in the Start Search box.
2. Scroll down the list of services, right-click Windows Audio and select Start.
3. Select Properties for Windows Audio and set its Startup Type to Automatic.

If the Windows Audio service does not start and you get the error Error 1068:

The dependency service or group failed to start, then make sure that the following services are started and their Startup Type is set to Automatic.

a. Plug and Play

b. Multimedia Class Scheduler

c. Windows Audio Endpoint Builder

Also see :

Troubleshoot audio-recording problems

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Troubleshoot-audio-recording-problems

Azeez Nadeem - microsoft Support

Thank you for the suggestions; I tried each step you described above, and I still have the same problem.  The built-in microphone records too at too low of a volume level, even though I have the microphone levels at maximum and the boost at 20 dcb.  I uninstalled the driver and reinstalled the latest driver.  There is no "faulty" message in the driver properties.  Windows Audio in Services is set to automatic start. 

From the sound of things on this website, my Toshiba laptop is not the only one having this problem, which means it is a Windows 7 problem.  Please elevate this to whoever needs to know about it so that it gets fixed in a patch.

Thank you!

I have a similar problem.  I have a Dell Studio laptop with Windows 7 and when I record audio with an external microphone, it will replay loud and clear on my new Dell, but when I transfer the wav files to any other computer, I can barely hear it even with headphones on!  That's how I get work done, sending wav files to a person on another computer!  I want the problem fixed as well; it's crucial!

The control panel route is slightly different for me. On 64 bit UK English Win 7 in both Pro and Home Premium editions I had to follow

Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > Sound

then select the "Recording" tab,  go to the correct input device, double click on it, go to "advanced" to uncheck "Exclusive Mode" and then to "Levels" to set the levels using mark 1 trial and error.

Our MS friends will doubtless be able to clarify which versions of Win 7 use the dialog Sogs described and which use the one I have seen.

Thanks to the approach suggested by Sogs, I now have a working sound input system.