Sound from laptop headphones but not speakers

I have a 1 1/2 year old HP laptop running 64 bit Win 7. Everything was running fine, and then I lost sound thru the speakers. If I plug in headphones all the sounds work fine. Not really certain, but I may have had Windows sounds for a while after I lost music/video sounds, but now its completely silent.

I've uninstalled codecs and rebooted, checked every setting I can find on the sound system. I've also run several spyware scans with no issues found.

I'm looking for any suggestions before I crack the case and look for a physical hardware issue.
thanks!
John

 

Hi my friend , in device manager is everything alright ? Maybe yellow mark ? I was in New Jersey in the summer !! :wave

 

My guts say it is hardware. your software settings will just enable or disable audio devices or specific outputs (ie front speakers and rear speakers if you have surround) sinse the headphone port is likely to be a clone of the speakers (ie it comes from the same output on the soundcard) I tink your settings will be fine. I do find it odd that both speakers have gone though?

 

I have checked Device Manager and there are no errors indicated. I have also tried uninstalling any device even remotely related to sounds and rebooting to force the system to reinstall. Still no sounds from speakers.

I also find it strange that both speakers became disabled. I am wondering if it could be something physically failed in the headphone jack, or if there is a software function that thinks the headphones are plugged in when they are not.

Any other suggestions?
Thank you both for your thoughts!
John