No audio devices installed, probably after Win 10 update

hi Fixit guys

My sound was working just fine after the w10 upgrade...around 6-7 months, until one day .... no more sound and a little "x" appeared on the little speaker symbol in the systray...(where we normally adjust the volume) ... * I can't remember if this happened immediately after a windows update*... anyhow, when i try to open the sound adjustments using the little speaker symbol in the systray, the dialog box says: No audio devices are installed....

the windows trouble shooter pops up, tests the system, finds problems, fixes them, tells me to restart and all will be ok… I do… but still no change… other times the trouble shooter tests the system and says that there are no problems… ;-) typical mico&soft consistency…

To try and fix it, i have followed the numerous similar instructions around the net, even re-loaded windows (what a pain that was)... but still no sound, still little ‘x’...

The major problem I am encountering is that in the device manager screen, there is absolutely nothing that refers to sound or audio, ,, however in the ‘system devices’ list there is a heading: High definition Audio controller, I click it, it says its working properly, go to update driver, it searches the net and says that i have the latest driver installed... but still no sound...

So, your instructions, as well as most everyone else’s, say that there is a “Sound, video and game controllers” entry. But in this c650 pro, there isn’t…

So, I’m thinking maybe the sound card burnt out and the system doesn’t see it… I’ve searched google and ebay for a c650 sound card and it doesn’t seem to exist, which could indicate that its part of the mutha board… I’ve fixed plenty of hardware and software issues on this old girl over the years but I’m no techie, only bluffing my way through, successfully up until now…

So, do you have any suggestions on this one ???

Cheers