How to get sound on my laptop?

my laptop is an
acer travelmate 4280
I have no sound on it what so ever. all the volume is turned up and I can't see any problems when I scan it.
apparently I need a sound card but I can't afford to buy it.
does anyone know where I can get one for...

free? maybe download it off the internet?
thanks

Sound card is hardware, you can't download hardware(physical object).
Since you have a laptop it's probably built-in. You're probably missing the Driver(software) which can be downloaded usually at the manufactures website.

Try reloading the drives and if that doesn't work contact acer.

Your laptop should already have a sound card built in to it. If its not emitting sound, then there's a problem - it can be something as simple as the sound being muted (which I wouldn't think is the case this time), the software drivers are not installed correctly or have become buggy (the program which tells your computer how to talk to the sound card to make the right sounds. Or, the physical component is faulty, whether it be the sound card itself, or the speakers in your laptop. Did your laptop use to make noise, or has it always been like that since you bought it? (I assume its fairly new).

Your best bet is to ring Acer - they will be able to talk you through how to re-load the sound drivers, and if it appears something more fundamental is the problem, then they'll tell you what to do about sending it to get fixed.