External Mic Not Picking Up Sound

I picked up a new headset mic after Christmas and attempted to use it in Skype but the mic did not pick up any, or possibly just very little, sound. I have gone into the properties and increased the mic volume and boost, I did several other test of my mic and all of them found the mic to pick up little to no sound despite the mic being an inch from my mouth and at full volume. I am using windows 7 and have gotten other mics to work to a usable level before. Any help would be appreciated.
 
 
Edit: The mic did not come with anything to install I simply plugged it into the computer and the computer accepted it.
Edit 2: I used my mic on my brothers computer and had the same problem, he also uses windows 7. His more expensive headset mic however worked fine on his computer so it seems that the problem is my mic.

 

Is your headset USB or analogue (with the pink and green plugs)?

 

It only has one plug which I put into the red mic jack which lets the computer recognize it as a mic.

 

Go to Sound in your Control Panel and make sure that the mic is actually selected as the default recording and communications device.

 

Your Mic should go into the pink Jack.
In the Control Panel under Sounds/ Properties make sure the Microphone has a Green Tick.
Logitek has the Mic muted by default (Stupid)
Check this video out carefully.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RelmsDtRkvM

 

I have tried my brothers more expensive logitek headset and it worked fine. My cheaper realtek headset still does not pick up any audible sound, I have maxed the sound and boost in the properties and still nothing. After using the sound recorder it seems that the device does pick up some sound be even after yelling into the mic at close range the sound was barely audible even with the computer sound up to 100. It seems like something is causing the headset to not properly record sound despite the volume being at 100 and the boost at max.
 
Edit: When using my nice set of headphones (which do not have a mic attached hence the problem) the sound is audible but distorted and sounds like a distant voice simply increased. It is also worth noting that I turned my headphone volume up to 100 when on average I use something like 20 as the max since beyond that is deafening yet the sound was only mildly audible. 

 

I am a little confused. You refer to a headset and then a microphone. You also talk about picking up sound and having only one plug. Is this a stand alone microphone?  Are your headphones seperate? Are you using an analogue microphone with a USB headphone.
 
Is your brother's logitek headset the same configuration or is it a USB only headset. What I think we need is a better idea of what is actually going on.
 
Specifically other than cost, etc. What is different about the one that seems to be working?

 

Alright, I have a cheap headset that has a headphones and a mic, I also have a nice set of headphones that have no mic attached which is why I bought the cheat Realtek headset. My brother has an expensive Logitech headset that had headphones and a mic, it plugs in via USB while my mic headset plugs in via 3.5 mm jack as does my nice set of headphones that do not have a mic. 
 
The problem is that for whatever reason my mic does not pick up sound properly, I have increased the volume and boost in my mic properties but I do not hear anything unless I yell and then only a very quit voice. If I use my nice headphones and turn the volume up to what is normally an unreasonable level I can hear what I have recorded but it sounds off, like a far away yell that has been made louder but isn't clear. I used my brother's headset and it worked fine and plugs in via a USB. I used my mic headset on my brothers computer and it did not work on his computer either.

 

If I read that right the analogue microphone does not work well anywhere and effects your headphones which work well when there is no microphone. Your brother's combined USB headset/microphone works fine.
 
Is your nice set that has no microphone USB or also analogue?  From what I gather it is either a problem with the cable or the plug. I have ruled out the jack because you get the same result on other computers.

 

My set of headphones (no mic) is analogue as well and works fine. The headphone portion of the mic headset also works fine, the only problem comes from when you attempt to use  the mic which does not pick up sound at any practical level despite being at max volume.

 

OK then, since this occurs on any computer where you use this combination, you have a bad microphone. I doubt that there is much we can tell you other than to replace it.

 

Well I don't think I fixed it but I installed a realtek audio driver and my computers built in mic that had disappeared when I updated from Vista to Windows 7 has reappeared making the entire thing a moot point.

 

Well as long as that is satisfactory to you then great