Equipment:
HP Pavilion DV2745se running Windows Vista 32-bit. Factory hardware (no new components or expansion devices). Laptop is 2+ years old. I use Kaspersky Internet Security suite as a virus scanner, firewall, etc.
In parallel to the attempted fixes to problems described below I consistently install the critical Microsoft updates: Vista patches, Silverlight patches, Defender updates, Malicious software tools, etc.
Problems:
Audio and DVD not working.
Audio problems have gone through many states - from just not working, to error could not find the device for this driver, to NO AUDIO OUTPUT DEVICE INSTALLED, to no speaker icon displaying in the taskbar at all.
Upon boot and/or wakeup the DVD would spin-up and not stop. No disc, no reaction to DVD software, tray open button etc. The only remedy is to sleep and/or shut down and try again.
Attempted solutions:
I've been at this for several days. I suspect hardware issues, but am holding out hope that it may be either a Vista update issue (UAA bus conflict) or perhaps a wicked virus/trojan that Kaspersky or Windows hasn't detected.
I have updated, removed, reinstalled just about every driver and update I can find on the HP or Vista websites (BIOS, video, media, audio, etc.)
Opening pandora's box of getting into self-admin I decided it would be a good time for annual maintenance: add/remove software, defragment the hard drive, dump cookies, temporary files, etc.
During this uninstall/clean up I removed a lot of old unused software (Blackberry desktop, Seagate backup software, PCanywhere, various media software tools, and countless other programs)
Current state:
Within Device Manager - sound, DVD drive, modem are all not present. In Services the Windows Services for Audio appears and shows as started.
Thoughts and questions:
Most signs point to a hardware issue, but the timing and massive failure around only one subset of hardware opens the possibility of the OS having an issue, or possibly the system having a virus. USB ports and WiFi both still function.
At this point I have performed so many attempted fixes, upgrades (including required Vista patches) and downgrades that a 'roll back to a previously known version' kind of fix probably isn't feasible.
Hardware elimination:
How can I determine if this is in fact a hardware issue?
Virus front:
What is the best method to determine if there are any nasty viruses, trojans etc?
I am currently running a DDS and gmer scan as suggested here:
