trouble with mic/

[redrunner]

i have winows xp , recently i had to do a full restore. since then my plug in mic has not worked properly, it was on me desltop about 12ins away from me mouth and worked ok , but since restore its not picking me voice up unless i have it right close to me mouth. ive been into mic/sound/setteng /etc. and tweaked them up a bit, but its still not very loud and is all scratty/
anyway i bought another mic , plugged it in and its the same./
ive been into the sound settings and mic settings again, but no joy [ it is switched on and not muted ] lol, and tweaked settings up a bit / but unless i have it set on mic boost [ which then upsets the speaker playback. screeching/. and echo/ it is still crap and has to be no more than 6 inches away, i read that it works on a soundcard ? could this be suspect ? any advice welcome. regards. r.r.

 

[breezer]

is your mic not plugged into the sound card, mine is (well was, dont use it) may be reinstall sound card driver?

 

[eggplant]

recently i had to do a full restore

A system restore our out with the xp cd? SOOOO many people install xp and everything seems to work, without installing drivers, may or may not be the case here, what soundcard is it, also what board or at least chipset is it? Many just leave it as-is without realising the huge performance loss.

 

[redrunner]

all i know breezer is the mic has a small jack plug ,pink in colour that plugs into back of comp ? i think it was on the box that came with new one that said it works straight from a soundcard in comp ?. thats about as far as i get.
if i go into .sound and audio check , it comes back saying . ok/
but when i go into the TEST SOUND HARDWARE. and then tick VOICE test on mic it says cant test as cant hear anythink ?
but if i tick mic boost box/ then the sound check comes back ok . but i never had it on boost b4. ?
but that makes sound playback hard to hear because i have to put volume low because of screech, and echo on speakers. ? cant win. lol/
hope ive explained it ok/ regards. r.r.

 

[eggplant]

but if i tick mic boost box/ then the sound check comes back ok . but i never had it on boost b4

Im suprised you didnt have it on before

that makes sound playback hard to hear because i have to put volume low because of screech, and echo on speakers

move your speakers further away will get rid of feedback.

 

[redrunner]

thanks eggplant/breezer/. got it sorted now thanks, but i dont know what soundcard it might have ? its just the box what the new mic came in said it worked straight from a s,card./ i know i didnt have to re,install driver for it as ive done restore b4 and it was ok then, but i seem to remember i had trouble then / because it had set the sound etc back to factory settings/ somethink i had overlooked.
as for what you asked eggplant about board/chipset/ i know its helpfull to know these things when i need help but , ive got the books that came with the comp but still no wiser. bit fick u might say. anyway i left it on mic boost and moved speakers slightly away from me. had another go in the settings menu , and all is now ok./ another thing is i dont think this new mic is as sensitive as old one, so that maybe didnt help. anyway cheers for help. r.r.