recording radio from pc: how to record/capture/save/rip audio stream from BBC iPlayer

[reggieq]

I have a Dell dimensionC521 pc about 18 months old with windows XP home edition SP2. I have been trying to record talk radio but my pc only allows microphone or in line input. I have heard from several people that they have a "what you hear" option as well.So far I have had to record onto a minidisk recorder and then back to the pc but this is very time consuming, I can also use the microphone but then I get lots of extraneous sounds. I have downloaded "freecorder" but I have to put it on maximum volume output to get even a very faint sound.Is this a sound card problem or what. Can anyone give me any advice on this. I would be very grateful.
I sould have said that I have a sigmatel audio device. I have tried updating it from the web but it tells me that my version is the most up to date!!