No sound, USB controller has "Unknown Device" with code 43 error

I bought the laptop refurb to use at home for word processing and record-keeping since I have no access to internet. I didn’t notice the silence until I got bored with a tedious data task and decided to put in CD. The player seemed to work, the volume meter showed that it was reading, but no output through speakers, earbuds, or from the inherited playlist samples. Also not from the online classes I had registered for that required , of course, sound to hear the lecture on the wifi hot spot. According to the stickers on the bottom, the machine came with Vista, but during refurb it was loaded with Windows 7 Home premium. I tried the fix suggestions from questions in the knowledge bank, but still no go. I tried the driver update and got a message from our good friend Microsoft that the driver lacked a registration and wouldn’t install. Now there is no listing in Device Manager for sound, game, etc. Do I just have a heavy, clunky word processor, or can I try anything else?