Win 7 Internal mic enabled, but not recognized by app?

Right, I'm not sure if this is strictly speaking a h/w issue, but for the avoidance of cross-posting, I'm going to assume for the moment it's a Windows issue.

Some time ago, I was doing an online language course, that involved speaking into the microphone.

This worked fine at the time.

After a bit of a break from the course, I was tempted by a special offer to resubscribe. All my progress has been saved, so I should be able to resume where I left off.

But there's a problem. The web app no longer seems to recognize that I have the laptop's internal mic enabled.

When I resume the course, it explains that I should get a (Windows) popup asking me to grant access to the mic, and that if I want to use the mic, I should answer yes.

However, this popup does not appear.

The web app therefore only gives me the option of starting the lesson without the microphone.

I have checked via Control Panel>Hardware and Sound>Sound>Recording Tab that the mic is enabled, and is also the default device. Yes to both. Also, when I speak, the level indicators respond, demonstrating it is "hearing" me (though they don't go up very far).

However, I think (possibly) being incorrectly calibrated is a separate problem from the one I'm having, which is that the presence of a working microphone does not seem to be acknowledged at all. I'm frustrated that this worked fine last time I did the course, and I can't understand what's changed - intentionally or accidentally.

T.

I doubt it will do anything, but try disabling all the other recording devices. Might also be worth clicking on the microphone and then the properties button and see if there is anything in there.

However, this popup does not appear.

Does the browser in use allow this popup to appear?

I'm using Chrome - which is the same browser I was using when it worked OK. Haven't knowingly tweaked anything. There's no error message - I'm just not offered the dialogue box to permit access to the mic.

Hmmm. Had a fiddle about. Bluetooth headset mic (which is a riddle in itself, as I don't have one!) was shown as disabled, but connected. I set it to disconnected (can't do any harm, if I don't have one), and was then given the option to allow the language app to access the mic.

I'm pleased to have fixed it, but still slightly mystified as to what the problem actually was, as I can't see why a (hypothetical) other device being connected yet disabled should make any difference.

I do have a pair of bluetooth headphones (no mic) and had a bit of a problem recently, when I was trying to "pair" them with the iPad, but a bit too close to the laptop, which tried to pair with them as well/instead. I can only think this incident somehow configured the laptop to expect my mic to be Bluetooth. But still doesn't fully make sense, as the Bluetooth device showed as existing, yet neither enabled, nor the default... So I don't get why it would have interfered at all with the status of the internal mic.

T.