Upgraded to windows 7: built in mic doesn't work

Look at my previous post...I give step by step instructions on how to install your drivers...

Hey so i did everything that you said and everything went smoothly the problem was it still did not work for skype when i just talked into the computer. When i looked at the properties it said that the microphone comes from the jack on the fornt of my computer. is this what is supposed to happen and i need to have head phones now or is there somthing i did wrong let me know. thank you for all your help

Hi guys, I actually got it working a while ago. I found some drivers from the dell site that were compatible, don't remember which ones though. Something happened and its good now. Thanks.

Hey tleaves8,

If you have a XPS 1530, it has a built in mic and you "can" use an external mic but it is not needed. If your mic is working for other programs but not for Skype, then the problem lies within your Skype mic settings. This happened to me as well.  Open Skype, go to Tools/Options/Audio Settings. "Uncheck" the Automatically adjust microphone box and then drag the blue volume button to the highest (or right below) the highest setting then save....You mic should work better now.

Good luck.

Shermonno1

I've installed the Vista 64-bit drivers as someone had suggested. And the microphone is working fine. I suggest others to try the same.

Vikas

Thank you!!.

Uninstalling, downloading and reinstalling the driver from the dell website (R190517) solved the problem of the internal microphone not working.   I only started having this problem when I upgraded from Vista 32 bit to Windows 7 32 bit. 

I am having problems with this solution. I uninstalled the driver on my XPS, and I installed the new driver like you said, but it is now telling me "This is not the correct audio driver for this system. The installer will now exit" I followed it to the word, so I'm not sure what the problem is.

Shermonno1 - you save my day!!! it work. I just followed your instruction by downloading via internet browser.  Thank you very much and btw, my system is XPSM1530 W7 64 bit.

Awesome news...

Thank you for your post. I had the same problem and after I've searched on the web, I found this post and these steps worked for me! Thanks again!

I have a XPS 1520, internal mic works fine but any external mic does not work at all.  I have current drivers and have gone through the uninstall/reinstall routines.   I'm still using Vista 32bit that came with the laptop....  any suggestions?

thanks

tommie c

tommie c,

You probably have a configuration issue rather than a driver problem. I will paste in some tips from other forum members on how they activated an external mic.

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Posted by forum member 040794 (Inspiron 1720)

"If you are trying to use an external microphone with an aplication make sure to right click on the soud icon in the system tray click recording devices then put microphone/line in as your default."

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Posted by forum member davmcn (Inspiron 1525)

With Windows 7, I've figured out that you must have one of the two set as your default to make the Microphone work. When you go down to the little icon on the task bar at the bottom and you right click the sound icon , and go to Recording Devices, Do you see the option for the External Mic ? If so , i would suggest you put it as the default , and then try it with whichever software you are trying to use it with. Also , depending on the application that you are trying to use , it may not be set up properly to use the proper Microphone.

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Posted by forum member Jakpro, to turn off internal mic in a 1520:

Go to sound in the control panel and select the properties button for the microphone and then look at the bottom and select disable the device.


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Posted by forum member phil r 279  (2 other forum members confirmed this works for mic array on Inspiron 1420)
Hi, Here's how I fixed my microphone after disabling it to record internet radio..
Go to the
Control Panel choose "Hardware and Sound" then "Manage audio devices" in the Sound tab, then the "Recording" tab.
RIGHT CLICK on the dialog box and select "Show disconnected devices" and/or "Show disabled devices"
Left click on Microphone array to select it and click "Properties"
To the right of Device Usage, click the arrow pointing down and select "use this device(enable)"
Then choose Apply and OK. You will now see in the Sound/ Recording tab that its working.
Problem solved, all because of the right click facility.
To put a shortcut on your desktop for muting the microphone later, do this..
Go back to Control Panel and right click on the speaker icon or the 'Sound' word. Choose "Create Shortcut".


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Posted by tomf22 re Vostro 3500 running Windows 7 home premium 32 bit.

I found the fix by combining a few of the ones above.
I went to control Panal > hardware and sound > manage audio devices > recording (tab) > right click in recording and select show disabled devices > click on the (now shown) external mic and click enable > set external mic as defult and bingo, the mic is now working.

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Posted by forum member PPR
External Mic Deactivated in E1505/6400 with Vista


I have a problem that bothers me quite a lot. In the Control Panel Area "Audio" there is no more recording device (=microphone) showed since i deactivated it. I am now wondering wether I need to install a new driver for my external microphone or whatelse the problem might be. It seems that no mic is activated at all.Non of my external microphones gets displayed there / is working when I plug it in. I have a Inspirion 6400 and use Windows Vista.Thanks 4 help,

Thanks guys! But now I found out myself how to make the microphone appear again. I have to right-click in the space where it was displayed before and then press "activate" at the relevant mic shown.

"Go into the Control Panel Area "Audio" recording device. Right-click in the space where (the mic) was displayed before and then press "activate" at the relevant mic shown."

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I have a XPS 1520

Could it be an XPS M1530 or maybe an Inspiron 1520?

[Solved] Dell Inspiron 1525 Microphone Driver for Windows 7

I have found the solution. You can verify the Dell website
regarding the compatibility of your computer

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&docid=DSN_360683&isLegacy=true

Audio driver for dell inspiron 1525 is not available in
Windows 7. However, audio driver of windows vista will work over Window 7.
Download the driver from the link

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&ServiceTag=&SystemID=INS_PNT_PM_1525&os=WLH&osl=en&catid=&impid=

Furnish operating system name i.e. Window Vista 32 bit and
click enter

Under Dell Recommendation chose the driver for Audit
(SIGMATEL – Driver)

Download it and install it in your Window 7 operatng system.

Now go to

Device Manager and uninstall all hardwares under “Sound,
video and game controllers”

Now Click on Scan for hardware change

You will now find SigmaTel High Defination Audio CODEC under
“Sound, video and game controllers”

Now go to

Control Panel – Sound – Playback  : Chose “SigmaTel High Defination Audio
CODEC”

                                                            as
default device.

                                        Recording : Chose “Microphone Array -
“SigmaTel High

                                                           
Defination Audio CODEC” as default device

Likewise for Skype or Google Talk “Audio setting” chose

                            For  Microphone
-  Microphone Array (SigmaTel High
Defination

                                                           
Audio)

                            For 
Speaker        -  Speaker/Headphone (SigmaTel High Defination

                                                           
Audio)

This worked for me. I followed these instructions on a 32 bit XPS1530 with Windows 7 and it took no time at all to fix. The only instructions that were a little uncertain were the driver uninstall steps. The path we took was as follows: Control Panel >> Hardware and Sound >> Manage Audio Devices. This opens up a pop-up "sound" box with 4 tabs. Click on "recording." Then, click on the installed mic device in the list (we had 2, but just uninstalled the top primary one). This should open a new window for the mic array. Click properties. This opens up the actual driver properties window. Click properties again and then "change settings." Click the "driver" tab and then click "uninstall." Reboot. Then, download the driver (we used Chrome and it was fine). Once you install, reboot and test it out. We used the Skype test call service to check it out and it's working great now. Hope this helps.

I have the same problem with Windows7 on my M1530.I loaded  the VISTA driver  OK and the sound works but it is real fuzzy. I tried both the OS32 and OS64 options but both the same.

Can anyone help?