Audacity Forum

How about if NOTHING shows up in the devices dropdown under 'recording'?

i have a brand new laptop running vista. i haven't messed with any of the factory sound settings. i've just downloaded the stable audacity 1.2.x, and it refuses to record, giving me a "error while opening sound device. check input device settings and project sample rate" error when i click the red record button.

i have used audacity before- on my old computer running windows 95, but i'm not anywhere near technically literate enough to be able to track this down myself.

any help is GREATLY appreciated!
~Z

Try this page from the Audacity Wiki for starters: http://audacityteam.org/wiki/index.php? ... s_Vista_OS

Post back if you still can't get it working - Vista is known to be a little tricky for Audacity work ...

WC

THANK YOU! THAT WORKED!!
i was doubtful it would, since it said it was for if Audacity wouldn't launch. mine was launching, but wouldn't record.

Anyway, for anyone else with this problem, follow that link, and follow the directions in the first Grey Box under "Sound Device Drivers"
i'm copying/pasting it here, but be sure to visit the page so things don't go screwy, yes? Vista is a pain!

HELP IF AUDACITY WON'T LAUNCH ON FIRST RUN

If Audacity does not launch the first time you launch it, make sure first of all that your system default sound device is set to one that Audacity can work with, which probably means your inbuilt sound device. Click Start > Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound then on the "Recording" tab, choose a "working" device offered by your inbuilt sound device. Click the "Playback" tab and choose "Speakers" for your inbuilt sound device. Try launching Audacity again. If this works, go to the Audio I/O tab of Preferences and explicitly choose the same devices you just chose in the Control Panel. If Audacity still won't launch it may have installed in the wrong "compatibility mode". Go to Section 3.1 below to fix this, then update the sound drivers as below.

i'd point out here, tho, that with my laptop, it didn't work until i had a microphone plugged in, so that i could select it off of the control panel menu. this may just be a strange arrangement of my software, tho, and not a general rule.
good luck, all! thanks again!
~Z