Something's wrong with my mic?

A year ago (the last time I used it) the thing worked perfectly fine... People could hear me loud and clear.

But today I dusted it off for a bit of use, and discovered one thing. When I held it next to the computer's speakers, it could get sound across fine. But I tried to speak through it... and my friend said that it sounded like:

1) couldn't hear anything
2) rushing air
3) "Chirp" (???)

So what I am wondering is... is there something wrong with my mic? Or am I just doing it wrong?

What Voice Software are you using? <Teamspeak, Ventrilo, etc.>

Have you ran a looped audio test via voice communication software?

Have you checked voice activation levels in the voice communication software?

Have you verified Audio Mixer settings for the microphone in Windows?

I am using Ventrilo... and I dont understand the rest. The mic works fine but it won't play my voice... maybe it hates me.

Go into Ventrilo > Setup > Voice <first tab>

Press the Test Button, talk into the microphone, you should hear your own voice back with a little delay.

Check which Audio Driver your using