Windows 7: sound recording

I have the following problem:



I see only ONE Recording Device: Microphone, not Line In or Phone LIne.
I have VM running and there I can seen ALL Recording Devices.
I have the latest Software updates from ThinkVantage System Update.

My configuration is as follows:
IBM Thinkpad Lenovo Z61m 9450HAG
RAM: 3GB
Windows 7 Ultimate version 32-bit

What can I do to fix this problem?

I use Cakewalk Music Creator and since purchasing a Windows 7 laptop have the same recording problem; there is no mixer in any version of the latest Windows 7 operating system. After spending a few weeks searching for a solution without success I had to load Ubuntu on my laptop to enable me to continue with producing choir rehearsal CDs. I note that you have not yet received a reply and wonder whether there is a solution to this serious Windows 7 deficiency!!

Thank you very much for the reply.
I also have considered another OS but I'm not quite prepared to do so.
greetings.

How about an external sound card? I know it sucks to spend more money than necessary, but it resolved all of my recording headaches. Well, most of them.

See if you can find an external Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 or something. They aren't that expensive, and have adequate sound reproduction.

I have considered purchasing an external sound card but this complicates the process, hampers portability and, as you say, spending the additional money sucks and should not be necessary.

I'm about 6 weeks down the path of converting to Ubuntu and other than sound file editing every other application has been easy to port. I have even found some pleasant surprise improvements. The main problem is that I have been unable to get Cakewalk and Sibelius to run under Wine (Windows emulator) and neither of them run on Linux. The replacements available on Linux are not up to the standard of these two applications so I still occasionally switch to win 7 when editing music files.

For portability, I can fit the Audigy 2 in my jeans pocket. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's really Windows to blame, but manufacturers using cheap onboard sound chips, with drivers that offer absolutely nothing other than listening to music.

Once you have the right soundcard with solid drivers, things work the way they should.

I just bought a new Lenovo Z560 Ideapad (i5 CPU), Win 7 64 bit. It has all the recording devices including System Mixer. System Mixer was not set as default from the factory but I set it and no problem. One of the uses for this laptop will be on-site recording using Sonar X1 but I have a USB recording interface (MAudio Fastrack Ultra 8R) that I will be using with Sonar.

However, check to see if the System Mixer or other devices are just disabled and not shown. In the Sound Panel, Recording, RIGHT Click in an empty space then check both the Show Disabled Devices and Show Disconnected Devices and if the System Mixer is available it will then be shown and you can enable it and select it as default Recording Device.

The Stereo Mixer was indeed disabled.
After enabling the device I saw it in my recording devices.
Much appreciated !!!