After servicing was done on my computer, I found that when I recorded with the mic, the waveform was little more than a line with small hills. I uninstalled Audacity and replaced it with the current version. Still no useable waveform. It does record and play back. but the lack of the customary waveform makes it hard to edit. I am using Windows 7
Is the recording volume slider turned-up? (It’s next to the microphone icon.) I think the recording defaults to 100% so it should be OK, but it’s an easy thing to check.
Are you using the mic built-into your laptop, or an external mic?
If you are using an external mic, please tell us about your setup.
What are you recording?
Is the sound you are recording “loud and clear” and is the mic close to the sound source?
You can use the Amplify effect after recording to boost the levels. (This will also boost any background noise in the recording, so it’s generally better to start-out with a strong signal for a good signal-to-noise ratio.
You can also try Windows [u]Microphone Boost[/u]. (The link I found is for Windows Vista, so depending on your operating system you might have to search Windows Help to configure it on your computer.)