Built in Microphone not being recognised after a install of windows 7

Duzzy said:

One of my old MB's had a internal AUX connecter (Auxiliary input) that allowed you to connect other Audio devices such as early TV Tuner cards. I think it's possible that the internal mic could use the same type of connector.

The old Sound Blaster sound cards had them two, identical to CD IN header on the board. It could be used if you have a second optical drive if you had one.

cameronfal said:

Thanks for all the other reply's; the AUX doesn't seem to be recording anything and i've tried playing round with it to identify but i can't find anything. Where abouts would this 'broken cable' be if it was broke? Can i open my laptop to have a look at it?

The cable would go from the motherboard up though the hing to the top of the display where the microphones are. It flexes or twists where it goes though the hing every time you open close the laptop. I'm just guessing that one of the wires may have finally broken. It's no east feat to get the screen section apart and you could end up breaking something or at least scratching things up if you aren't careful. I'd save that as a last option and maybe try to hunt up a service manual for your laptop before you tackle it. You don't want to break the display or back light and make things much worse.

As far as I can see the problem is that the Microphone entry under the recording tab is grayed out and it says "unplugged". It won't let you set it as default device.
Ironically, I don't have a MIC connected on this PC, but my Microphone entry is checked as default anyway? And It doesn't say unplugged even though there isn't one plugged in. This motherboard has auto detection on the jacks but I don't know if that plays into this or not. Later on I'll have another look at my laptop and give this some more thought.

cameronfal Is there another sound app/control panel installed for your onboard sound. On this motherboard I also have a VIA control panel app for jack selection etc. I can also set default device settings in there. On my other motherboard its a ReakTek control panel. I'll have to check my laptop to see if it has one. If you do have another one installed with your drivers it should show up in control panel and the start menu, or even in the task monitor area down by the clock. If you have it open it up and see if you can set your MIC as default device in there.

Yeah, I guess what it comes down to is, is the Microphone entry the microphone jack or the actual built in microphones. Seeing as it says "unplugged" I'm guessing it's the jack? If thats true then is AUX the built in Microphones? It might be time to take a good look at the owners manual and hope there is actually some useful info in it.

On my Acer laptop it also has the Realtek app for speaker setup etc. In the windows Sound app under the Recording tab, it shows Microphone as default device. Line in is grayed out and shows "Not plugged in".

Cameronfol, do you have anything at all plugged into any of the audio jacks on that laptop? On a laptop a lot of the time if you plug in external speakers or headphones the built in speakers get disabled automatically. Same thing with the built in Mic, if you plug something into the Mic jack it turns off the built in Mic. Its an either or thing. So if you plugged something into the wrong jack (the Mic jack) you could end up with no working Mic. Can you tell I'm running out of ideas.

So what do you suggest i do?