Unable to activate "effect"

[VTNOVICE]

I have recorded a voice recording into Audacity from a cassette player and I want to try and reduce backgroung noise by using "noise removal" under "effect". The problem is that nothing under "effect" will enable. How do I activate "effect"? My operating system is XP. Thanks in advance for help with this problem.
Richard

[steve]

Audacity needs to be in "Stop" mode. Effects are not available while Audacity is "Paused".

[VTNOVICE]

I tried your suggestion but it still doesn't work. After I open my recording I clicked on stop and then clicked on effect but it was still non-active.
Richard

[steve]

Do you have anything selected?
To select the track that you want to apply the effect to, click below the track name (taking care not to adjust the volume or pan sliders).
To select part of a track, click and drag across the track.
To select All audio in the project, use Ctrl+A

See the Tutorials and Tips from the links at the top of this page for getting started with Audacity.

[VTNOVICE]

Thanks for your help. I was able to activate the effects but unfortunately it did not remove the noise.
This recording is strictly voice and the noise in the background is an air conditioner or fan. I tried several different levels of noise removal but none of the tries where acceptable.

[steve]

Getting a good noise profile is one of the most important steps in using the Noise Removal tool.