Vista and skype seem not to work :(

[bazz]

My son has just got a new PC and it has vists in it. He thinkns alrady that vista stands for Very Incompetent Software - Throw AWAY!!!

He can;t get skype to wrok properly because whilst he can hear me perfectly, I can hear very low volume from him with bundles of static. he is therefore inaudible. Not good when he is in Australia and I am in UK :(

Has anyone had this problem or know where we can get help. Skype's help seems pretty useless and vista doesn't even show up at all in their knowledge base.

Please help.


bazz

[liorean]

On his side:
First of all make sure he's got +20dB mic boost turned on in the volume settings for recording (sometimes listed as "1 Mic Boost" or similar - depends on which device drivers).

Second, make sure he's got the mic volume turned up in:
- Windows volume control
- Soundcard managing program (if any)
- Skype

Third, ask him to try the following:
- Unchecking "Let Skype adjust my audio settings"
- Try changing the audio device

Fourth, if the conversation breaks up, test turning up the process priority of Skype in the task manager.

(Also, does he have a laptop and use it's internal mic or does he have an external mic? Laptop internal mics (and sometimes webcam mics) can get both electronic and acoustic interference from the hardware. Typical things you may hear are: fans spinning up and down, CD/DVD spinning up and down, harddrive spinning and other mechanical noises. Buying a headset may be a good idea if he's using a laptop internal mic.)



On your side:
First, see if it helps turning up playback volume for the Skype conversation.

Second, if the conversation breaks up, try turning up the process priority of Skype.




Both of you:
- Firewalls, antimalware, antispamware and antiviri may scan network traffic. This can cause conversations to break up. Try allowing Skype traffic through without scanning.

[_Aerospace_Eng_]

I've used Skype on Vista Business before without any problems. I use an external headset though.

[bazz]

Yup he uses an external headset too and he's using a desktop pc..

As it transpires, he hadn't got the setting done correctly for his sound card. Now that they are done, we can talk again :)

Thanks to both of you.

bazz