Problem with recording words on Vista

[matthollycart]

We have SpellQuizzer downloaded on our desktop and laptop. My wife used this on the desktop and was able to record the words okay, she says. I am using the laptop right now and whenever I try to record a word, when I play back it is only static noise (not what I tried to record).

To make sure it was not my microphone, I made a phone call using my headset/microphone (same device) on Skype. The call (microphone) worked perfectly on the phone call. What could be the problem?

Matthew Cart

[DanHite]

Sorry to hear you are having difficulty recording on your laptop. There are a couple things you can look at. First off, it may be that you need to have Microphone Boost turned on in Windows. See http://www.spellquizzer.com/MicrophoneBoost.htm for instructions for this solution.


If the above doesn't help then check to see if you are able to record sound using the Sound Recorder utility that comes with Windows. To test this follow the instructions below:

1. Click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, and then click Sound Recorder.
2. Click Start Recording and speak into your microphone.
3. To stop recording audio, click Stop Recording.
4. You should be prompted to save the recording. If you see a small "Browse Folders" button with a down-arrow at the lower left-hand corner of the "Save As" dialog then click it.
5. Click on "Desktop" in the left pane of the Save As dialog window.
6. You can accept the default name that Sound Recorder suggests for the recording (such as "Untitled(1).wma"). Click the Save button near the lower right-hand corner of the dialog to save the sound recording.
7. To play back the sound recording, locate the saved file on your Windows Desktop, right-click on it and select "Play" from the menu that pops up.

If nothing plays when you do this then there is either a problem with your microphone, your microphone's connection or perhaps the sound driver on your computer. If you have more than one microphone port on your computer (some have one in the front and the back though I've not heard of a laptop with more than one microphone input) then try plugging your microphone into the second port and see if that solves the problem.

I hope this helps. Please come back and post what you find.

[matthollycart]

Thanks for your assistance Mr. Hite. I checked and the sound booster is already in place. I also did a test on the windows sound recorder, and nothing records when I do that test. But still, when I use Skype with the same microphone, it works flawlessly. I'm not sure what that all means. But it appears that it is just this computer (which is the problem).