No sound on a Toshiba

Hi everyone,
I have a Toshiba Laptop (I don't know what model, but I bought it in Nov 2001, if that helps any). Just recently, the sound just stopped working. Just like that, one second I'm listening to a song and the next, I'm not. Nothing is muted (the speakers are on, the dial switch on the side is on high, and the volume is turned up in the taskbar), but I can't hear anything at all (no music, no system sounds, etc). For awhile, I could hear a ding when I adjusted the volume in the taskbar and sometimes I could hear the notes that played when I hit one of the toggle keys, but I don't hear anything now. Does anyone know what could be wrong and how to fix it? I heard I could just restore my computer (with the recovery CD), but there has to be some easier way (plus I don't want to lose all of my files and settings). Thanks for any help.

Do you get sound out of the microphone jacks?
If yes: Speakers are fubar.
If no: Change the sound card. (I think you can on Toshibas.)

Thanks for the reply! I'm not at my laptop right now, so I can't test out the first suggestion, but just in case, what kind of sound cards do you recommend for a Toshiba Satellite? Advice from anyone is welcome. I'm a dorm student, so cost is a little bit of a concern. Actually, it's quite a bit of concern. I don't mean to sound dumb or anything. I'm not a total newbie with computers, but I've never had to deal with the hardware-side of computer problems before. It's always been just software (which I guess is more frustrating).
Right now, I'm trying to keep my patience with my laptop because the sound died just before Memorial day weekend when I was facing 3 days alone in my dorm room (everyone else at my boarding school went home). Can you tell I'm a little bit peeved? Anyway, thanks in advance for any tips/help.

Backing everything up and trying a reinstall could help, at least you would be able to determine that it is indeed a hardware problem. If the reinstall doesn't fix the speakers, try the headphone jack as suggested. If that works, you'll have to have a repair place fix the laptop, or get speakers to plug into the jack. If still no sound, you'll probably have to replace the soundcard. If its got warranty left, send it back.