BleepingComputer.com: Lost Laptop Microphone

Sony Vaio laptop running Vista home suddenly lost built in microphone. Was working fine. Suddenly no longer in devices. Not picked up as new hardware on re-boot. System restore does not and never has worked. Any suggestions? Thanks

Where are you looking to see if the mic is recognized? It won't show up in Device Manager. Does it show up in the sound devices under Recording?

It could be that the built-in mic failed. Is there a jack for an external mic? If so, I'd plug a mic in there to see if that works.

There is probably a switch built in to the external jack that disconnects the internal mic when an external is plugged in and the contacts on that could have oxidized. If that's the case you may need to open the laptop and see if you can get a piece of emery cloth between those contacts to clean them. If the jack is enclosed, it might require the jack to be replaced.

This post has been edited by strolln: 16 June 2010 - 11:47 AM

Thanks. Mic had been appearing this AM under Recording tab in sound devices management. I may have inadvertently hit Disable button?

I had an external speaker plugged into the HEADPHONE jack and the speaker and built in mic both working fine. Then unplugged speaker. No mic since. Could unplugging speaker have something to do with it? Never plugged anything into MIC jack.

Any help appreciated!

I guess I did hit disable.

If you right click on the recording page that says: " No device" it gives a short meno allowing you to click on "show disabled devices". Can re-enable at the point.

Thanks and sorry.