Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

I use Skype frequently for voip. After I reboot, and for an indefinite time after, everything works fine. But eventually my microphone (Dell built-in) stops working. The party at the other end no longer hears me. It's not just Skype. Windows Sound Recorder doesn't pick up anything. Neither does Audacity. My thinking is that some app is grabbing the device and not releasing it. Is there any way of determining if this is the case? If so, is there a way to determine what app is responsible?

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A short, practical diagnostic and fix list based on the thread: the behavior described by (works after reboot, later the built‑in mic is silent) is most commonly caused by an application/driver taking exclusive control of the capture endpoint or the Windows audio engine/driver getting stuck. Windows supports an "exclusive mode" for capture devices and also runs a separate audio engine process that hosts driver plug‑ins; either can make the mic unavailable to all other programs. (learn.microsoft.com)

Steps to identify which process holds the mic (no installs required first):

  • Open Resource Monitor (Win+R → resmon), go to the CPU tab and use the Associated Handles search to look for parts of the device name (the exact Recording device name from Control Panel → Sound → Recording).
  • Run Process Explorer (Sysinternals) as administrator, use Find → Find Handle or DLL and search for the same string; Process Explorer shows the owning process and allows investigating/closing a handle (use with caution).
  • For a command‑line check, Sysinternals Handle can list handles: run handle.exe "partial-name" from an elevated prompt. (sevenforums.com)

Practical fixes to try (in order of safety):

  • Disable Exclusive Mode for the default Recording device: Win+R → mmsys.cpl → Recording tab → properties → Advanced → clear "Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device".
  • Restart the audio stack (Services → services.msc → restart Windows Audio and Windows Audio Endpoint Builder). This forces the audio engine to reload.
  • If a vendor process (Realtek/MaxxAudio etc.) shows as the handle owner, exit its tray app or disable it from Startup, then test. If that helps, update or reinstall the Realtek driver from the OEM. (learn.microsoft.com)

Notes and cautions: closing handles or killing services can crash apps or lose unsaved audio data; use "Close Handle" or handle -c only when safe and as a last resort. If none of the above frees the mic, collect Event Viewer errors (Application/System) and try a Clean Boot to isolate third‑party audio utilities. (documentation.help)

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Member Avatar for rubberman

You may be right Jim. If you were running Linux, I could help you PDQ. I think there are Windows tools and management applications that can tell you what applications are using what devices, but I don't remember offhand. Sorry! :-(

Member Avatar for tobyITguy

When that happens what do your sound settings in control panel show? Does it still recognize that the device is installed?

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Device manager shows the device as working properly. All the control panel settings are unchanged from when the microphone is working.

Member Avatar for Reverend Jim

Lots of good stuff there. I wasn't aware I could do that. Unfortunately, the only exe associated with that handle was the RealTekAudio exe. I wouldn't mind if Skype grabbed the mic because that's the one app I want to use it with.

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