I can’t get ‘Sound Recorder’ to work

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by wm17959, Jul 7, 2009.

  1. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    I got the computer about 2 years ago. It’s a Lenovo 3000J and I’m running Windows XP.

    I tried plugging a microphone into the front of the tower and also into the back. Then I tried recording with ‘Sound Recorder’ but nothing ever gets picked up. I wrote an email to the retailer who sold me the computer and he said, “Go in to the advanced volume control and make sure the microphone is turned on. By default, it is normally set to being off”. I wrote back and asked him how to do that because I can’t figure it out for myself (and I’ve tried) but he wrote back to say that they don’t have any machines running Windows and I should go online to find the answer (I’m finished with dealing with him).

    Can someone suggest what the problem might be? Once I can get some recording done I plan to use Cool Edit Pro to modify the files, but that’s going to be a huge learning curve.
     
    wm17959, Jul 7, 2009
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  2. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    do you have what looks like a speaker in your taskbar? double click it & a screen popsup. click on options near top left & click on properties. in mixer device, click on the down arrow so shows your soundcard input instead of output. a list appears below that showing cd, line & mic volumes with check marks in front of them. is it there?
     
    ddp, Jul 7, 2009
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  3. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    I LOL'ed.

    On a more serious note, have a check through the sound panel as ddp said, and also make sure you've got the right input selected in your control panel -> Start->Control Panel (in settings menu if you use the classic start menu) -> Sounds and audio devices, and check what's in the hardware section under 'recording'.
     
    sammorris, Jul 8, 2009
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  4. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    O.K. ddp,

    I went to ‘Properties’ in the speaker icon, but there is no control called, ‘mixer device’. I also noticed that under ‘adjust volume for:’ there is one called ‘playback’, and it is selected, but the one below it called, ‘recording’ is gray and not an option.

    Sammorris,

    I went to ‘sounds and audio devices properties’, clicked on ‘hardware’ but there is nothing there that says, ‘recording’.

    I’m running Windows XP version 2002.
     
    wm17959, Jul 8, 2009
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  5. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    what soundcard do you have?
     
    ddp, Jul 8, 2009
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  6. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    last night I tried to find out what kind of sound-card I have and I couldn't figure it out. It almost looks like there isn't a soundcard but I know that's not true. I went to 'control panel' and 'sound & devices' and 'hardware' but I could not find the description of the sound-card. Can you advise as to where this information can be found?
     
    wm17959, Jul 10, 2009
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  7. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    any yellow exclamation marks in device manager as appears the driver is not load & windows will not know what the device is? what is the make & model# of the computer as lenovo has different 3000's?
     
    Last edited: Jul 10, 2009
    ddp, Jul 10, 2009
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  8. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    On the computer tower it's described as a 3000J, but in 'device manager' it says Lenovo-CF545E6B.
    I didn't see any yellow exclamation marks anywhere.
     
    wm17959, Jul 10, 2009
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  9. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    ddp, Jul 11, 2009
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  10. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    I went to that link but I sitll can't figure out which one is mine. There are about 8 different 3000J computers and I dug out my old invoice and the model number shown there is 73879HU, but it's not on that list. Is there not another way find out which soundcard I have?
     
    wm17959, Jul 11, 2009
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  11. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    look on the bottom of the laptop as model# is probably be there.
     
    ddp, Jul 11, 2009
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  12. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    O.K. I finally got around to looking for that number. It's a PC and I didn't know there was a sticker on the bottom. The model number listed there is 3000J 9HU, and it's not listed when I follow the link you've provided. Please advise as to how I might proceed.
     
    wm17959, Jul 13, 2009
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  13. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    what country are you in?
     
    ddp, Jul 13, 2009
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  14. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    Canada (Ontario)
     
    wm17959, Jul 14, 2009
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  15. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    so am i, just south of barrie in innisfil. your numbers don't match at all so still missing some.numbers. post all the numbers that can be found on the laptop that are on labels & whatever. i did 2 upgrades of lenovo laptops from vista to xp & didn't have this problem finding drivers from their site.
     
    ddp, Jul 14, 2009
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  16. wm17959

    wm17959 Member

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    Hi ddp, I'm back. Sorry about the delay.

    We're trying to figure out why I can't get my sound recorder to work. The numbers on the bottom of the computer are:
    Product I.D. 73879HU
    Machine type: 7387
    Model: 9HU

    Please let me know if there is anything else you need.
     
    wm17959, Aug 3, 2009
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  17. ddp

    ddp Moderator Staff Member

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    ddp, Aug 3, 2009
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