Question : Problem: Problem with low mic in level - Dell Laptop 420-D/Dock Vista oober edition

Hello,
This one has me stumped.  Just purchased a new dell D420 Laptop and D/Dock for my boss.  It came preinstalled with Windows Vista.  We installed a Vista Compatable Soundblaster sound card into the Docking stations PCI port.  We installed the latest S.B. drivers.  The speakers work great.  The mic works but it is very low volume.  I have turned the mic volume to 100%.  I tried switching mics.  Nothing seems to help.  It seems to work ok except for the level.  He normally uses headphones for Skype so he is not happy about the problem.  
Thanks for the help/advice.
Jeremy

Answer : Problem: Problem with low mic in level - Dell Laptop 420-D/Dock Vista oober edition

Hi, the first place I would check is in the audio and sounds in control panel, in the audio  check the settings for
Sound playback are pointing to the default device
Sound recording is pointing the default device
and this one especially> MIDI music playback is on MS GS Wavetable SW Synth.
I have seen this problem fixed when  MS GS Wavetable SW Synth has been accidntly changed to point to MPU401 or some other device.
Make sure the volume has all the settings in playback record and other to include full volume.

Open Volume Control by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then, under Audio Devices and Sound, clicking Adjust system volume.
 Under Main Volume, move the slider up or down to raise or lower the volume.
 Note
Some mobile PCs have an external volume control on the outside of the case. If you're using a mobile PC, check the external volume control.
 Make sure you don't have headphones plugged into the line out (headphone) jack of your sound card or computer (unless you want to be listening with headphones rather than speakers). When you plug in headphones, most computers automatically cut the sound to the speakers.
 Have you usd the Microphone Wizard
A speech tool that you can use to fine-tune your microphone
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/50c5dd28-9f8a-429e-9669-a42a292cea231033.mspx

And finally
Open Audio Devices and Sound Themes by clicking the Start button , clicking Control Panel, clicking Hardware and Sound, and then clicking Sound.
 
2.  On the Playback tab, select the device that you want to test, and then click Configure.
 
3.  Select your speaker configuration, and then click Test.
 
Good Luck
Merete