Help! Please.

[ChaosRaiders]

I put three hours into trying to fix my audio problem. The problem is that where I speak into my microphone, it does not work. Nobody hears anything.
- Using Vista.
- The microphone is plugged in properly. I know this because in Sounds it states that it is plugged in and working.
- It is not muted on any particular application, it does not work on either Ventrilo or Steam.
- The microphone is fine, since I plugged in two different microphones and both have the same problem.
- The microphone is not muted in my Sounds systems.

I really doubt it's a hardware issue, as the computer recognizes the mike and it pops up that it is properly plugged in.
Of course, I might just have a dumb moment and miss something obvious, so all suggestions welcome. Just remember what I said in mind.
Thanks in advance!

 

[soundguruman]

did you double click the speaker icon in the lower right hand of the desktop screen?
does the mixer come up?

 

[ChaosRaiders]

Yes, mixer pops up? I don't understand.