Help regarding 2.0.1

I am trying to assist my grandmother in the moving of her vinyls onto her laptop; however, as I am here you can probably tell the result has been more tedious than successful.
However, i would appreciate some direction and help in this matter.
I have, to the best of my knowledge, read through the wikipedia pages relevant and had a look on the FAQ but cannot seem to find the answer, but if I have overlooked it, I apologise profusely.

i cannot seem to get my laptop (I run Windows Vista) to accept my hifi as an input, it says there is no input and I get an error. I have tried to follow various suggestions I’ve already seen on the board, however the mixing toolbar (where you select the input) Drops me down with a blank list, and I cannot select anything as it is a plain white box.

I am using a split (red and white) jack into the appropriate slots on the back of my hifi, and it is connected into my microphone slot, though i have tried the others and this brings no joy either.

Sorry for wasting people’s time, and thank you for any help available, that would be much appreciated.
Please and Thank you in advance,
holly.

Unless you have a very unusual laptop, the Mic-In is fundamentally incompatible with the stereo connections, even if you did find it. Generally, we recommend adding a stereo connection with a simple USB sound device like the UCA-202 or equivalent.

http://www.kozco.com/tech/audacity/pix/peaveyUCA202Lenovo.jpg

Koz