>If its a cheap mic with just a 3.5mm jack on the end
Its Maybe just me, but, $9.99 is not cheap

, but, it does have a 3.5mm
jack.
>If you have no other mic to test then you can use a pair of headphones to
test...
I can't find my headphones, but, I did plug the Mic into my laptop computer.
No problems - A got a full rich recording.
>Have you tired using 3rd party recording software instead of windows stuff
to record?
In place of Windows own "Sound Recorder" I have used the sound chip makers
(realtek) own recorder, and others from Willow Pond, Nero, and ACID.
They are all the same, unless the Mic is in the "Line-in" jack and that
"line-in" in checked in "recording control," I either get nothing or static.
Maybe I should try to get batteries for my speaker? For while week the
recording(s) made sound clear.
While in the past I did not need to have them powered to use them, maybe the
design of the MB's audio chip make a power speaker necessary.
And, if this is of any additional help, I find that nothing is listed as
being connected under the "connector sensing" tab of the AC97 Audio
Configuration Manager Application in Control Panel .
If I try to run "connection setting" by clicking on Start. I get a message
to "please stop other audio applications before starting." Then when I click
"OK" a other window called ALSNDMGR appears with the message "Initialzation
failed!"
I hope that you, or someone in cyberspace" can find an answer.
>> Stay informed about: On board audio problems