[Thinkpad] x31 microphone strangeness

[Michael Geary]

> From: cjeastwd at gol.com
> 
> I've just noticed that my mic seems to be picking up all the 
> time when moving my computer today on a crowded desk, I got a 
> slight quick feedback squeel. I then found that touching the 
> mic does indeed get some sound come out of speaker.
> 
> is this normal, or has some application such as skype left 
> the hardware in a funny state?

Somebody unmuted the microphone. One easy way to fix it:

Double-click the volume icon in the system tray to open the sound mixer.

Select Options/Properties.

Turn on the Microphone checkbox and click OK.

Now there should be a volume slider and Mute checkbox for the Microphone.
Click the Mute box.

-Mike