Vista - Is microphone built in

Please help. I have a Inspiron 530s and my son is trying to record. He says the mic doesn't work, and one of his friends tells him it is built in to Windows Vista. Is it built in, or how to I get the Microphone to work?? Thanks in advance.

Did a quick search and the Inspiron seems to be a desktop PC (I get mixed up with Dell laptops and desktops easily) and I don't think an actual microphone will be built in to the compuyer, or Vista (don't really think your son's friend knows what he's talking about when he says "it's built in to Vista") unless he means software, which for that matter you will still need to buy a microphone seperatley.

You will most likely be able to pick a decent one up pretty cheap, and just plug it in to the pink microphone slot on the back of the PC. It should work instantly, and your son should be able to record with it.

If not, then just have a look at the microphone options in control panel by going to "Sound>Click microphone and go to properties bottom right>levels" and just make sure the microphone levels are not muted or anything.

getting the microphone to work may depend on where you have it plugged in if you are plugging in the microphone into the front socket it may sometimes be required that it is enabled.

If you right click on the speaker item in the notification area of vista and select the "recording Devices" option from the Pop-up menu that appears you should be able to control the sensitivity etc for the Microphone

Hope this helps