Laptop Recording Microphone

laptop recording microphone
does anyone know how i can use the microphone on my laptop to record my voice?

i have a microphone on my laptop but can't seem to find a way to actually use it. Please help!

If your laptop has a built-in microphone, it should have driver installed and one should be able to use the microphone without any setup
To check hardware. Start>run and in the dropdown box, type "mmsys.cpl" (without quotes), one would get into the Audio and Sound property (Can also access from Control Panel). Select Voice then select Test Hardware. Before that check if you have a default device that can be selected.
If the test failed with maximum volume, there are 3 possibility
a) The laptop does not have a built-in microphone or a microphone is faulty or ;
b) it does not have a correct sound driver.
If one is sure that the microphone and correct sound driver are there, may be the sound software like SoundMax has the Microphone booster turn off or have selected other microphones.