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Accidentally disabled built in microphone - it's gone
Running Windows * (I hate it!) on a Dell Inspiron 15 3521 laptop with built in microphone. Was having trouble with people hearing us on Skype so was digging around to check the mic, disabled the microphone to see if turning it off and back on would help, but no - now it's just gone! There's no place in Sound to enable or see disabled devices, either. This is my only microphone and I use it a lot - can someone please help me it back? Thanks!
Jim Coates
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August 16th, 2013 10:00
You mean if you go to the Recording tab of the Sound properties and right click in the blank (white) area, you do not have the options to 'show disabled' and 'show disconnected' devices like this?
showmeoz
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August 16th, 2013 11:00
Thanks, Jim. Talk about a 'duh' moment - didn't even try that. So now it's back up and running, but sound is total *** both when I test with Skype and with the sound recorder on the laptop. All I hear is faint blips of sound. Any suggestions?
showmeoz
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August 16th, 2013 12:00
I'm really hoping it's not the mic, but it probably is. \\\ Where would I get the driver (Realtek HD Audio)? I checked the dell downloads for my computer, but none looked right to me. Is it a group (say for speakers, audio/video, etc, or just specifically for the Realtek mic? Thanks. Sorry I'm a pain. :-)
Jim Coates
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August 16th, 2013 12:00
You could re-install the audio driver, but if that doesn't help then it would seem to be a defective mic.
Jim Coates
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August 16th, 2013 14:00
Hey, sorry for the delay. When you get on the Inspiron 3521 downloads page, you expand the Audio category. Your Realtek driver is right there. It is this one.
showmeoz
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August 16th, 2013 20:00
Thank you, Jim. I wound up working with Dell support to troubleshoot and reinstall the driver, but it didn't work. The mic itself is not functioning - as you suggested. Guess we'll have it repaired since we're still under warranty. Thanks again for all your help!
willit63
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September 8th, 2017 07:00
Thanks for providing this answer Jim.
What an asinine user interface to hide Show Disabled Devices this way. There's no way I would ever expect to right-click a blank area of the Sounds window for access to this control.
Looking forward to the day when the human race if free of the stupidity known as Microsoft Windows. Hopes it happens in my lifetime.