sound [stopped working]

Running XP on a Dell laptop. All sound stopped 2 weeks ago. No Windows bells, no C/D's, no sound at all. Speakers are not muted, volume in Control Panel is on, there is no volume icon on the toolbar. Where should I look next?

 

Hi sundog and welcome,

Have you checked in Device Manager for any indication of a problem with the sound system? The speaker icon will not appear if the sound drivers or hardware have a problem that prevent them from working. If there are any yellow marks associated with the sound system, right click all of them and select Uninstall. Then reboot and allow XP to reinstall them.

If that doesn't fix it, it's possible that your sound card or integrated sound system has a hardware failure.

 

sound

Well, there are no yellow or red symbols by any of the sound components. This laptop is 4+ y/o, will look for a hardware failure. Thanks.
Steve

 

You could do as Surferdude2 suggested and uninstall them any ways. Window should find them on the next boot up. Maybe a gremlin/glitch in there and that may fix it.

 

sound(stopped working)

Title correction noted.

Thanks to both suggestions. I did uninstall all sections under "sound" in Device Manager and re-booted. All re-installed without trouble & now I have all sound back. Greatly appreciated.
Steve

 

That usually works most of the time.