Note. This article explains how to install a microphone and fix some common microphone problems in Windows Vista. Most of the tutorials also work in later versions of Windows. However, we have a new, in-depth article on How to Install and fix the Common Microphone problem in Windows 10.
Microphone Settings
Before you start communicating with your computer, you need to have a microphone set up. To do this, plug the microphone into your computer. In general, the microphone jack’s color is usually the same as the slot color in which it should be inserted. If that is not the case, refer to the sound card’s instructions and see the microphone’s appropriate ports.
The instructions below are for Windows Vista, 7, and 8.
To install a microphone in Windows 10:
- Click on the search icon (magnifying glass) in the screen’s lower-left corner.
- Type: “Set up a microphone” and push in.
- Follow the instructions.
Now go back to Windows Vista, 7, and 8. In Vista and Windows 7, open the Start Menu and click on Control Panel.
In Windows 8: Take your mouse pointer to the upper right corner of the screen; when the menu pops up, click search. Type: “Control Panel” in the search box, and then click Control Panel.
When the Control Panel window opens, click on Hardware and Sound.
When you are in the Hardware and Sound list, click on Sound.
In Sound Windows, you have three tabs: click the Recording tab.
Once you are in the Recording tab, right-click on the device you just plugged in and choose the option ‘Set as Default Device’.
Now, to test and see if it works, tap the microphone with your finger a few times. In Sound Windows, the blank lines next to the default microphone will be green.
If you are in the Recording tab and cannot see your microphone device, right-click on any device displayed in the Recording tab. In the menu that appears, click on ‘Show Disabled devices’ if it is not marked with a checkmark.
If you still can’t see your microphone, you can either plug it incorrectly or need to install a driver for it to work. In the first case, check to see if you have correctly filled in your computer, plugged it back in, or, if it’s on a USB port, plug it into another USB port. For the second case, use drivers from the manufacturer’s website or the CD that came with the product.
Here, Windows Vista still may not recognize that the microphone has been activated. So we need to make Windows Vista aware of the tunes and sounds of our voice.
Necessary: The following steps will also be performed in the article Windows Speech Recognition so, if you came to this article from that one, you can now go to that one and continue reading from there.
Open the Control Panel window and click on Ease of Access.
Now, in the Ease of Access window, click Set up Microphone.
Select the microphone device you are using and click the Next button.
A few directives, and if they are followed, will provide a better user experience. In my case, since I selected the Headset microphone, it was only shown in the images. Once you have read the advice given, click on the Next button.
If you accidentally select the wrong device or want to go back to the previous setup page, click on the blue arrow positioned in the upper left corner of the settings wizard.
Then, click the Next button.
In some cases, the microphone doesn’t work in the setup wizard, although it can be activated and operated under the Recording tab. If this happens, close the installation wizard, check to see if you have the correct microphone enabled device; open the setup wizard again.
In my case, for example, I enabled the microphone on my headset only when I got to this step, and it doesn’t seem to be working. A few taps into the microphone told me that it works in the Recording tab but not in the setup wizard, so I had to restart the installation wizard.
Now, assuming you read the text and click the Next button, the setup wizard will tell you that the microphone is set up, and you will also be prompted to set up Speech Recognition by pressing the Next button.
If you encounter any problems while setting up your microphone and managing to resolve them, let us know about it. Others may find helpful the solution you have found.