R50e sound not working in XP

[mastermiaow]

Hi everyone

The sound has suddenly stopped working on my laptop. Unlike the post from earlier this month, i haven't installed a new OS or anything like that. I have run a comprehensive malware removal and nothing has changed.
Initially there was no explanation mark or question mark in device manager. I uninstalled Soundmax integrated digital audio from device manager and downloaded an updated audio driver from http://support.lenovo.com/en_US/deta...cID=MIGR-55042 and installed them in here C:\Drivers\Win\Audio
There was then an exclamation mark in Device manager (I assume as a result of uninstalling Soundmax) and I scanned for hardware changes which resulted in Soundmax being reinstalled.
But although there is no longer an error message coming up when I try to play something, there is still no sound...
I have also tested using headphones and no change.
Is there some diagnostic tool that I can use to see if it is a hardware or software problem?

Many thanks

Matthew