[Mike Rivers]

So here I am in a hotel room with my new netbook computer, and I can't
get any audio out of the speakers or headphone jack. Curiously,
Microsoft Sound Mapper is no longer listed as an audio device in the
Windows (XP) Sounds setup or as an audio device in Audacity or Sound
Forge that I have installed. There's signs of life - the meters move but
nothing comes out the speakers or headphone jack.

I can select Realtek (the built-in sounc card) as the audio device, and
that used to work fine, but it doesn't now. I don't have any other audio
devices (like a USB audio I/O) that I can plug in to try.

Could I have lost the Realtek/Microsoft driver?