Soundblaster Audigy won't unmute microphone in XP

So I install a new SB Audigy into a WinXP machine and I test the microphone out. I can't get any sound to pass through. I decide to look in the audio setting in the control panel and the mic is muted. I click to uncheck mute, windows then frowns and says no mic for you. The check won't come off the mute box. I have tried looking online for answers and 90% of them are magically resolved with time being the cure and the last 10% have answers which obviously don't work like "just uncheck the box" or "Make sure the mic is plugged in". Does anybody know what the heck is causing this? Or better yet how to fix this without me blowing away the windows installation.

Anyone have at leasst an idea?

I could make a suggestion or two, but not anything I'm very confident about. When I'm low on ideas, SFC /scannow is always worth a shot. You might also try the onboard sound or a different sound card and see if the mike functions correctly.

If SFC works, it's done. If SFC doesn't fix the Soundblaster, but an alternative sound chip/card works, then I'd try Soundblaster's manual driver removal, and re-install current drivers. If the thing is still FUBAR, I'd suspect a bad card.

Thanks for the advice, there is an integrated card and the mic works on it. Just the SB card is automuted. The reason i'm using a different card is the fact that this motherboard is shoddy and its manufacturer has always had issues with it not picing up sound well from mics. Basically you have to shout for the onboard sound to even register there was a sound.

If you need online voice capability or voice recognition, I'd go with a USB headset and bypass the sound card. You can spend $20-30 on a Logitech headset and get very good audio quality for Skype, video conferencing, etc. Any of Plantronics products are good choices too. Quality will be better than a Soundblaster and analog mike.

In the sound in control panel has it been set to use the SB for recording or is it still pointing to the old card or windows default?SB also uses the blue input for the MIC which i did not know having not used one for a long time i was sure it was always the red input that was for the Mic.