No Audio Device Installed in Windows Vista Laptop

Here recently i had a problem with the dreaded red X over the speaker icon at bottom right of my toolbar. That along with no sound, led me on a two week adventure trying to solve the problem on my Compaq Presario Laptop which has Windows Vista. After restoring my laptop twice, no help from HP, loads of internet searches, and checking several times in the device manager, i found that the solution was easy. The sound card was not being read by windows...the sound card was no good. USB Audio Device did the trick. You can find these almost anywhere like Amazon.com or some computer shops near you. Good luck if you try to find these at Walmart or anywhere else. They did not carry them where I live.

I hope this helps anyone who has suffered the dreaded red x or no audio output device installed.