[JohnE.]

A few items to check:

Open Control Panel>Multimedia and click the big button under "Playback". If you see a channel/volume slider for Microphone make sure it isn't muted, set the volume around 75% then click Advanced and make sure "Microphone +20 dB Boost" is selected. If you don't see the Advanced button on the microphone channel go to Options and make sure "Advanced Controls" is enabled.

If you don't see a channel/volume slider for Microphone you'll need to go to Options>Properties>Adjust volume for playback - make sure Microphone is checked under "Show the following volume controls"

That should take care of the input... now the output:

Control Panel>Multimedia, click the big button under "Record". Use the similar steps from "Playback" options to make sure you have a Microphone channel and set it up the same way you did for Playback (advanced controls, +20 dB boost, etc) and under Recording Control select Microphone (not Line-in, etc). Also, make sure your mic is plugged into the microphone input and not the Line-in.

While you're there in Mutimedia, select "Use only preferred devices" and "Show volume control on the taskbar". This'll give you quick access to options if you need to check/tweak them again.

Give that a try and lemme know if it worked for Sound Recorder

JohnE.