Inspiron Mini 1018 Sound Issues

Hi,

I recently got an Inspiron Mini 1018 with Windows 7 Starter. While I loved the computer, the bundled software annoyed me, so instead of removing it one by one, I backed up the drivers, and reinstalled 7 Starter. It went smoothly and without any problems.

I've been using the Mini for college work, and so have it muted all the time. However, I recently tried to use it for music and noticed something odd. While music plays through the speaker no problem, the audio icon in the Windows 7 Taskbar says its muted. Sometimes it will not play any sound, but say its unmuted. I've also noticed that the F7/Mute button doesnt mute the volume at all, but all the other function/multimedia keys work fine. Finally, the Dell application used to switch the functions of the media/function buttons is often backwards, ie, it says they're acting as media when they're function, and vice versa.

I've tried a few things, none of which worked. 

I've;

Changed the keys to Function in the bios, then installed windows with the COMPAL Embedded System Control Driver,

Changed the keys to Multimedia in the bios then installed windows with the COMPAL Embedded System Control Driver,4

Installed 7, and tried to use the keys without the driver installed (I got the exact same results as when I had the drivers installed)

Can anyone help me? I've done some searching, and have found nothing. 

Thanks,

Ryan