Volume Panel Error on start up + no sound

Hello

first off i have a 4 year old dell XPS 720 computer, thats has run fine up until this point.

ok well today my sound just stopped working out of nowhere,

my default volume panel had vanished and the icon for my creative volume panel was still there, but when i clicked on it a message came up "there is no supported audio device available. you need to close the application. click OK to close the application now."

so i did some reading and some people suggested i clear my drivers and reinstall.

so i did
i install my motherboard chipset and audio drivers

now after doing this when i start up a small box with a yellow triangle and exclamation point in it appears. its labeled "Volume panel". I still have no sound but i can now access my default volume panel and the Creative Volume panel doesn't give me the error anymore but just a little grey box shows up when i click it.


any clue on what steps i should take next? i thought i was making progress but i guess not.