Unable to record in methods other than stereo mix

Okay, so I fail at computers. I'm using WinXP and RealTek AC97 Audio. There's a soundcard sitting around the house, so we might decide to use that later. Anyways, when I plug in a microphone and run Connector Sensing, it seems to detect the microphone. Of course, when I unplug the it, the system no longer detects it. Yay! So that seems to be working fine.

However, I'm having trouble getting the microphone to actually work. I went to "Adjust Volume Properties" and found my way to the recording controls, where I attempted to check the box under the microphone option. Well, for some reason, it doesn't work. No matter how many times I try to check the box, no check ever appears. Instead, the checkmark stays under "Stereo Mix." In fact, I can't select anything other than "Stereo Mix!" Recording through that works fine, by the way.

I'm sure it has nothing to do with the microphone being broken, as it works fine on the other computer, although it's running on Win98 with a Philips Rhythmic Edge sound card. I've also tried two microphones.

I did a quick Google, but I was unable to fix my problem. Or perhaps I missed the answer. However, I did find other people with the same problem.

Any ideas on how to get the mic to work? I'm guessing it's related to the card, but I know nothing about computers. What about checking other options aside from "Stereo Mix?"

Thanks in advance!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

some recording programs have options in which it sets sterio mixer as default...so that might be causing problems

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've tried both Windows Sound Recorder and Roxio Sound Editor for the recording, and I know Windows Sound Recorder lets you record through the microphone.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.