Built-in microphone is detected but will only test to a maximum of 4% volume.

[NOTESFCB]

The laptop has not been used in a communication mode for a while.  This morning when trying to communicate with someone using Facebook, she noticed that the person could not hear her audio, although the video was fine and the other person's audio came through loud and clear.  We ran through all the audio settings in Windows 11 and could not find a combination of settings that produced more than 4% volume when we ran the microphone test.  We looked for newer audio drivers, but none were available.  Any ideas?

[GOLD_MASTER]

Hello @NOTESFCB .
Open Device Manager
Expand "System Devices", right-click to uninstall Intel Voice Technology OED and Intel Voice Technology Audio Controller, and check the Remove driver check box
After removing the device, if prompted to reboot, reboot the device. If there is no prompt to reboot, right-click the device in the Device Manager at will, select Scan for hardware changes, and wait for the three removed devices to reappear.
Repeat the uninstall and verify the action of removing the driver until right-click uninstall is unchecked.All three are right-click uninstall without removing the driver.
Reboot once, connect to the Internet, check Windows updates (Start-Settings-Updates and security), the driver will be in the optional updates, all checked.
After the update, reboot the system to confirm if the sound is normal.

[NOTESFCB]

Since this laptop has an AMD Ryzen 5 processor, the Intel System Devices that you mention are not present in Device Manager.

The three devices that I see are:  "AMD Audio CoProcessor", and two instances of "High Definition Audio Controller".  Should I apply the same technique that you outline in your message to those three files?

Thank you for your help!!

[GOLD_MASTER]

@NOTESFCB .

Yes, you can also replicate it for AMD.

[NOTESFCB · Accepted solution]

The issue was finally resolved by paid H-P tech support.  It appears that the Windows tests for Microphone Volume are not working and have not worked since Windows 7.  So, even though the problem was actually solved by normal driver updates, we did not know it because the Windows tests continued to show low or no volume.  The Tech that finally resolved this used an "online voice recorder"  (https://online-voice-recorder.com) to test the microphone output after checking all the drivers and the test showed full-microphone volume.  We subsequently checked  the system on Facebook Messenger and everything worked fine.  Thank you for your help.