Can't Get Microphone to work

Well I have a Vista 32-bit computer my sound card driver is Realtek HD Audio Manager 6.0.1.5322. Well I just a game called Counter-Strike and wanted to use my microphone well guess what it doesn't work. Not just for the game but for the computer i tested on the windows sound recorder, and tried on the
Control Panel\Ease of Access\Speech Recognition Options
set up microphone not success. Someone help me please also its not muted. Raised its boost to 20+ and went to speakers properties level tab and maxed all th sound thingys. Please help ASAP!

Yeah I had some problems using a mic with vista running css too...Im ingame atm but it should be short and sweet.....


There are 3 things to check

1. check the mic is not identically named to any other mic and set as default
2. make sure the volume of the mic itself is turned all the way up (some programs mute it again after using it) and not turned up under the speakers in volume.
3. check the realtec website for the latest drivers or try another mic to make sure its working.