Plug your microphone into your PC, and switch it on, then double click the speaker icon that appears next to your clock in the right bottom corner of the taskbar. Make sure that your microphone is not muted, if the ‘mute’ option is checked uncheck it.
Then click Start -> Control Panel -> Sounds and Audio Devices -> Click the “Voice” tab and see that everything is correct, form there you can test your hardware too (click the “test your hardware” button).

To start recording go to All Programs -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Sound Recorder. Run the program and use to record and playback your masterpiece.

Your easiest option is to use Windows Media Player. Start ->
Pograms -> Accessories -> Entertainment -> Windows Media Player

From the Windows Media Player menu choose File -> CDs and
Devices -> Rip Audio CD

You can use Tools -> Options -> Rip Music to change the
settings, usually choosing “best quality” is your best option

unless you don’t want the files to be too big. From the format
menu you can choose the format of the file - mp3 or Windows
Media Audio.