Mic plugged in causes crash

That's the first time I saw this issue. Have you tried plugging in the mic into the ports on the back of the system (motherboard area)? Also, have you tried a different mic as well?

ahh the freedom of not typing on a phone... Back at a machine I can type on so if you don't mind I'd like to clarify my last response.

I've tried all the ports. I started with the front in fact. Initially I thought the hang up was a software issue with Teamspeak 3. Turns out the machine freezes even if I haven't launched it.

I have isolated almost every aspect on the hardware and software (excluding drivers) to understand the problem to be directly related to the mic input. Now, it's plugged into the pink port. If you can tell me what other ports work with a mic I'll set that up and troubleshoot the problem (hopefully it is that simple.).

Side note: I do have an extra soundcard I can use from another machine... it's an audigy soundblaster something or other and I've considered installing it... I'm reluctant to since the machine has been so great (besides this mic issue). Plus, I'd prefer to avoid any additional hardware installations.

Regarding testing it with a new mic? What I have now is a no thrills mic and by todays standards it's fairly old but it's been fine on other machines. Not against trying a new one but curious on what sort of things would cause a hard crash from a external mic?

Thanks in advance for any responses.
-m