no sound analog input or output

I have no sound from my analog plugs (mic or speakers) digital (USB and HDMI) work fine.
sound control shows that mic and speakers are not plugged in, but they are. The options to test, disable and Set as default are grayed out. I have tried updating drivers, uninstalled / re-installed etc. I have looked inside for any disconnections to sound card, but everything appears good their too.

I have read several forum notes on this issue with both vista and 7, and there does not seem to be any solution other than installing a new sound card.

I am about to try system recovery back to original factory settings to prove this or not. but that does not seem practical since that would involve a lot of time to back up data and re-install software and updates.

If this is a hard ware problem, I'll just live with it. But if it can be solved with drivers or clean up of some sort, I would really like to get it fixed.