I have read all the various forums in regard to the problem mentioned. I have just upgraded my Windows Ultimate to Windows 7 on my DELL Inspiron 1420 and encounter the same 'no sound from speaker problem' but by using headphone there is sound. What I did was to reinstall back my sound driver from the Dell Drivers and Utilities CD from the original manufacturer (It comes together when you first bought the Laptop). You just insert the CD and let it run and just click for OS Vista and 32 bits (eventhough currently you r running on Windows 7). After successful installed, reboot the laptop and brovo your speaker sound is back. I hope this can help. All the best. Cheer..