P151EM: Windows 7 Sound Stopped Working

I have a Clevo P151EM/Sager NP9130 running on Windows 7 x86 SP1 and my audio has recently stopped working.

My system crashed when I was playing music (pretty loudly) on the speakers from Itunes and Windows had an automatic update upon computer restart. (I think it is also to important to note that I had just washed my hands and a small amount of water may have dripped onto my trackpad or keyboard). Now, Instead of playing sounds on the laptop, there is occasionally a faint popping noise that emits from either beneath the top portion of the laptop or the speakers. I have also attempted to talk on Skype and it seems that my microphone is not responsive either. I fear that the integrated sound card may be broken in some way.
So far I have attempted to reinstall drivers, system restore, check my device manager, making sure stereo is set as the default device and a slew of other common fixes, but nothing has worked. I am also hesitant on opening my laptop because it will void the warranty.

I would be very grateful if anyone could provide some further suggestions or advice in light of my situation.

 

when you say a small amount of water this could be the make or break question... did you turn it on straight away or leave it for a few hours. if there was enough to get to the mobo then it could be bad news BUT lets hope it was just another dodgy windows update thats conflicting something.

bit rushed as at work so hopefully others can advise

 

Unfortunately, I turned on the computer after it crashed because I thought that it was just windows forcing a restart because the system restart dialog box popped up earlier. Since my hands were just wet, I didn't think about it too much.
Everything else on my laptop is running perfectly, it is just that the audio and microphone have stopped working. Is there any way to diagnose if it is a hardware problem?

 

Look for the service manual online. I managed to find one fo rthe P150EM. Maybe you can determine where the sound hardware is and decide if it's possible. I really doubt that a little bit of water on your hands caused any issues. There is no way for water to fall through the keyboard, and the microphone is under the track pad. If anything you would just get some water on it.

Does the expanded mixer show anything is muted?

 

A little bit of water shouldnt cause too much problems unless it hit it just the right spot. Can you get external speakers or headphones to work? The sound card is integrated onto the motherboard so if it is indeed damaged and the rest of the computer is working fine you could get a USB sound card and that could fix your issues.

 

Hey Scott!

It's unlikely a Windows update bricked the audio, but I've seen said updates do strange things to an otherwise working system (haven't we all?). Since you tried a restore point to no avail, it's probably not the fault of a Windows update (a software change should not cause a faint popping noise anyway). It sounds like bad hardware, but as Hutsady said, the simplest (and probably the most affordable) approach would be to use a USB sound card. You lose out on a USB port is all.