Absolute silence

I have Audacity downloaded on my PC (XP) and it works a dream. But … absolute silence on my Windows 7 laptop, I just can’t get any signal. When “saving”, the input level is zero, even when I push all levels (input and output) to maximum (see attachment). Help!!!
Sans titre.JPG

What are you trying to record? You can’t get too detailed. “I’m trying to record my lawnmower with a Blue Snowball USB microphone.”
Koz

I tried 2 saves…
1 the BBC World Services programme of the Kings Colleg Cambridge Xmas Day Choir, and
2 a mp3 file of mine, which I was playing with RealPlayer.

See here: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tutorial_recording_audio_playing_on_the_computer.html

Self Recording is not a guaranteed service so success can vary with the soundcard, computer and version of Windows. Some computers don’t do this at all and you will need purpose-built software. Koz