I’ve been struggling with an issue with Windows 7 since the Beta was released. At first, I thought it was because of the Realtek drivers or the Beta status of Windows release. But that was not it. So what’s the issue:
My Mic shows fine in the Sound Device Manager and I can hear it fine but it wont record. In other words, the mic works, I can hear it, but it won’t record. What else was annoying that any application that I tried to use the mouse with told me that Mic wasn’t available or working. I know most of the issues related to Mics are because people do not have proper drivers installed or their Mic is not properly configured but this one’s a kind of its own.
The reason behind the problem:
I believe it is because of Applications taking exclusive control of a device. When windows starts up, the device goes into a state where the exclusive control of the device is not released and it becomes unavailable to other services or programs. This is the reason why you can see the Mic in the control panels and windows reports it as working but you won’t see any activity.
How to solve it:
Yeah, to the solution already. Let’s go through this step by step. I will always refer to the Windows’ own Sound Control Panel. So if you have Realtek or IDT or VIA or any other chipset, we’re not concerned and I won’t refer to it.
- Close any sound related applications that you may have running.
- Make sure that you have one Mic active in your Windows Sound Control Panel. Disable all others.
- Open your Mic’s Properties.
- Go to the “Levels” tab. Take the sliders all the way to the right. Don’t worry, this is to test and we’ll take them back afterward. For a note, I’m referring to the “Volume” and “Boost” Properties. Here’s a screen shot for reference.
- Go to the Enhancements tab and check “Disable All Sound Effects”. This should disable everything on that tab and especially the “Immediate Mode”. Another reference screencap:
- Lastly, go the the Advanced tab and uncheck everything under the “Exclusive Mode” Section.
Alright, we’re done. Now apply all the settings and click “OK”. Always click “OK” as “apply” doesn’t persist the changes. Close the Sound Control Panel completely by clicking “OK” on every screen. You can restart your windows if you want but that is not necessary. Re open the Sound Device control Panel. Try talking into your Mic, it should show activity.
There you have it. Let me know if this works for you. It worked for me. The catch is “exclusive” application control of the Mic and Sound Effects. So remember to disable them. Moreover, if your Mic works now, you can adjust the sensitivity, which we leveled up before.
I can post a video of this if there’s demand.
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Hey friend, i have a similar problem and i came to the same solution with u (taking exclusive control of a device) but it didnt work!
My problem is this, when i use video call in msn messenger i cant play any videos or mp3′s with windows media player and i dont have windows sounds too like when u click a folder etc! The videocalling all this time works perfectly with video and sound… as soon as i turn it off i get back all the functionalities i mention before, i can play videos, mp3′s etc! I deselect the exclusivity thing and for speakers and for mike but as i said before it didnt work:-( I havent touched immediade mode which is clicked by default cause i dont know what it is… i will now though to see what happens! Any ideas? Im on Acer 8930g win 7 ultimate 32bit (10 days old after format) realtek hd audio with 5.1 surround thingy! Thx for ur time!
hmm, That’s an interesting issue. I haven’t had that before myself. I’ll do some research on this and will email you if I find a solution.
If you find a solution, do let me know about it. I’ll update this post.
Ok man thanx… I can be more specific now!
When i mute the speakers on messenger my windows sounds r muted and i cant play songs or videos with wmp only, with other players i can but with no sound! When i unmute the speakers on messeger everything’s ok so its like messenger takes total control of my speakers when i mute it somehow!
I tried everything in Realtek settings and nothing happened, i reinstalled wmp in case was something to do with this, nothing happened so this is the latest story! My prob its not big ok but i hate it when i cant fix it!
Thanks again for ur time!