Catastrophic SOUND Meltdown!

Hey...I recently lost all sound on my PC for no apparent reason. There is no sound anywhere. I am using a HP 2.60GhZ 512MB 120GB practically brand new computer running Windows XP. My sound card is a Realtek AC97. Or is it a sound card? I know very little about PC hardware. All I know is that everything was working fine and now I have no sound. The speakers are plugged in correctly, they have power...they have that "working sound" but no actual sound..if that makes sense. Things appear to be playing, but no sound. I have run a virus-scan program and it is clean, and Ad-aware which is clean too. I downloaded and updated the drivers for the sound. No changes...it is a complete mystery. Any and all help would be greatly appreciated!!!

Cagedheat3

 

Here is a couple things to check. First off actually look at the back of your computer and make sure your speaker plug didnt get disconnect from yout computer. It should be plugged into the green connector. Actually unplug it and plug it back in. If htat does not help open Control panel set it to classic view is the easiest. then open Sounds and Audio devices. make sure the the box marked Mute on the volume tabe is not checked. If it is uncheck it by clicking on it with your mouse. Apply changes and exit. See if that gives you back your sounds. You may need to restart your comuter after this if a change is made. I hope this helped you!

 

I have already done all of those things...all the basics have been covered...Thank you though any other suggestions??
Cagedheat3