SoundMax audiocard doesn't show up in device manager

Hey,
I have an IBM ThinkPad R40, running Win XP Pro. After downloading some pictures from a new digital camera, my audio stopped working, and I got a bang next to my SoundMax Integrated Audio in Device Manager. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling SoundMax, but after uninstalling, it has disappeared from Device Manager, and Windows doesn't seem to think that I have an audio card attached!
Things I've tried so far:
1) Downloading and installing the latest SoundMax Drivers
- Doesn't work, the installation gets halfway through and I get an error message 'Drivers not found, please reboot system and try again'.
2) System Restore
-Did not help
3) Went into BIOS, and selected 'restore default configuration'
-Did not solve the problem

I've been working on this for days, and can't seem to get anywhere with it! SoundMax will not show up in Device Manager, and searching for new hardware won't bring it back. I can't seem to install the drivers, because the systems appears to not be recognizing the (integrated) sound card. If there is a way to fix this in BIOS, I haven't found it yet.
Any suggestions?

My system:
Windows XP Pro, 5.01, SP2
Pentium M 1.3GHz