This seems to be near impossible. Some people can right click on their audio icon in their system tray and then go to playback devices/speakers/levels. These lucky people see an unmute microphone option. They either have a better audio card or more updated drivers. I have onboard sound of a brand I haven't found. I got my pc from I buy power and got their "3d Premium surround sound onboard" card. I have yet to find the brand of this. I have also tried to find registry hacks but none seem to apply to me. If anyone can help, even if it's a workaround or a 3rd party application I would appreciate it.