Audacity Forum

Install on XP works flawlessly -- install on Win7 or 8 works but missing are the drivers to record sound from audio streams from anything except the microphone -- tried on several win8 laptops and desktops -- what to do beside abandon Audacity going forward...

You could try looking in the manual: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tu ... puter.html

Guess it's your arrogance that made you think I had not looked both in the manual
and the FAQs before posting the question? I also noted a similar FAQ regarding
this with a similar less than helpful answer.

Running thru the menu items in Audacity and Win8 as suggested does't yield any help.
It also doesn't address the basic question of where to get the proper drivers and
maybe even why Audacity didn't provide drivers to MS to include in their product release.

As a comparison, the product "Total Recorder" installed and recorded without
issue and now has become my go to recorder software for Win7 and 8.

ardenweiss wrote:Guess it's your arrogance that made you think I had not looked both in the manual
and the FAQs before posting the question?

I suggested looking in a specific part of the manual (see the link) because the answer is there.

Perhaps I should quote the start of "Step 1":
"Step 1: Set up devices to capture computer playback

This is often the hardest part of the overall task, being dependent on your computer operating system and sound card. Many manufacturers are making it increasingly difficult to record streaming audio by deliberately removing or hiding this functionality due to copyright concerns. Sometimes, older sound card drivers can be found on the web site of the sound card or motherboard manufacturer that still allow recording of computer playback.

This section of the tutorial shows how to find a suitable sound card input for recording computer playback, with workarounds if such an input is not available. Click the link to the tutorial for your operating system:"

ardenweiss wrote:It also doesn't address the basic question of where to get the proper drivers

The paragraph that I quoted links to the page Updating Sound Device Drivers.

ardenweiss wrote: and maybe even why Audacity didn't provide drivers to MS to include in their product release.

Audacity uses the device drivers that are installed on your computer. If your sound card or sound card drivers do not support a particular feature, then that feature will not be available to Audacity.

ardenweiss wrote:As a comparison, the product "Total Recorder" installed and recorded without issue and now has become my go to recorder software for Win7 and 8.

And you will no doubt have seen that Total Recorder is suggested as a workaround for computers that do not support "Stereo Mix" recording: http://manual.audacityteam.org/o/man/tu ... s.html#alt

Thanks for your detailed reply -- hope it helps others that find themselves in the same boat...