Ok, I am at my wits end. The other day I installed windows updates and suddenly my on board sound stopped working. I figured that the on board was dead, went out and purchased a regualr sound card (PCI) and disabled the on board sound and installed the new card. Two things happened

1. the volume icon disappeared and now it says there is no sound device installed.
2. Winxp does recognize the new card and the drivers are all installed for the new card - yet the sound device manager isn't showing it.

I have uninstalled - reinstalled - disabled updated drivers ad nauseum. and nothing seems to work. Any ideas?

I had a similar problem. The solution to my problem was correct installation of drivers. For some reason, the installation would not complete, I had to go back and add new hardware, and run through the driver/software install again.
I'm not saying this is your solution, but just my two cents.

Is it not listed at all in your device manager? I would just start from square one.. make sure there is no sound device on your system what-so-ever...that may already be the case. Follow the manufacturer's instructions exactly. Maybe try writing them at their website. I wish I could help more.

Good luck, Red.