If go into Sounds and Audio Devices the play sound button on the Sounds page
is greyed out. The volume control will not come up on the taskbar and if I
don't hear sounds from web sites. However, I can play media files in Windows
Media player and have an audio conversation in Live Messgenger. Clearly the
windows sound system is corrupted somehow but how can I fix it please? See
other on the internet have had same problem but they only did format
reinstall which i want to avoid. I went through all the sound troubleshooter
options .. default device etc but they were no help. Many Thanks, William

Sorry I got it:

"Where did my Sounds go?"
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/top10faqs.htm

I had to click both the registry hacks before it sprung back into action.