missing sound driver

My sound is not working and my volume icon is gone from my task bar. When I
go into device manager it says that I don't have one. However, when I go into
system tools or control panel, it says that they are working properly.
I'm not sure when it went away, because I keep my speakers on mute unless I
am using them.
I have windows xp pro. I have had this happen before, but never could fix it
unless I re-formatted my harddrive, which I have done about 5 times in the
past year and 1/2.
I already tried the sfc /SCANNOW. It scanned it, but never asked if I wanted
something installed, so I don't think it fixed anything.
I am not a pro so I need a fix that does not require me to go into config
sys or registry, I'm toooo chicken to mess with that stuff.
Please help!