Can't record...

Hi
I’m new here. I just installed audacity because I wanted to record some tapes as mp3 on my laptop. Its an audiobook which is not available on cd…

I tried to follow the help on various sites, setting up the stereomix on my laptop etc. but without success. At first, every noise in the room was recorded, so I changed the settings. Now it doesn’t seem to record anything, or when it does, its either statics or the tape but going from quite to very loud and scratchy without me beeing able to change the volume… I tried to change back to record via the inbuild microphone to record every noise (at least I get something then…) but I can’t change the settings back anymore because I don’t know, what I changed… Sounds silly, I know.
Could PLEASE someone help me out? Is there maybe another, foolproof, programm to get my tapes onto my laptop? I already wasted the whole day on this…

Thanks

Windows 7, 64bit, HP Envy 14"… got the .exe installer

Have a look through this set of tutorials in the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/help/manual/man/tutorial_copying_tapes_lps_or_minidiscs_to_cd.html

WC