Cant start Audacity. error opening recording device

I see that others have had the save issue, but am unable to pursue any further. How do I get at answers to this problem?
Thanks in advance for help

oops- I made a typo in my above post - the word “save” should have been “same”
and here is more info
When I try to record, now that I have made my input device “Real tek audio” I see the green level bars on the mic responding to the music I am hearing from my computer speakers. But there is no action in the horizontal L and R tracks. They remain darkened.

I sense there is a simple and obvious solution , but it escapes me
Again, thanks for any help

Are you trying to record streaming audio?

Are you on Windows?

There is a little information about errors & error codes here.

yes. I am using Windows 11, and trying to record the music I am listening to from my recorded music file on this computer. I will look at the site you just mentioned

Since the recording meters are showing activity, I don’t know what’s going wrong maybe someone else can help.

But… If the files are already on your computer, why are you trying to re-record them?

I am trying to record files already on my computer because its a convenient source of music to test the updated Audacity. But after more fiddling, I cant even get the green sound bars to correspond to the music

Audacity has been so improved and updated that I cant figure it out anymore