Can't Detect Sound Card

First of all I use Windows XP Pro and my sound has been working a couple of hours ago and all of a sudden it just stopped working now. I went to:

Start => Accessories => Entertainment => Volume Control

As I open Volume Control, it says the following:

"There are no active mixer devices available. To install mixer devices, go to Control Panel, click Printers and Other Hardware, and then click Add Hardware. This program will now close."

I have no idea what to do. All the games/music/mp3 or any audio file have no sound now. What baffles me is it was working fine earlier today and while I was playing a game, it all of a sudden stopped working.

I went to Start => Run to run DXDIAG and it says under Sound:

"No sound card was found. If one is expected, you should install a sound driver provided by the hardware manufacturer."

My Realtek AC97 Audio chipset is integrated into my motherboard. Downloading the latest drivers and installing it didn't work. I really need some help here this is driving me crazy. Any sort of help would be appreciated =(.

Well, this is a Linux forum, so I doubt you'll get much help for a windows-specific problem. It sounds like your card might have bitten the dust. Have you tried rebooting? Seeing as this is a linux forum, I'll suggest you try a live distribution of Linux (something like Knoppix). If your sound card doesn't work there, it's probably time to buy a new one.