Hi SuperSugarbear,
I did some research on your problem and it is not a very common problem. You can try restoring the BIOS, I have included a link that will show you how to do that. You mentioned that you fiddled with the sound settings. If you mute your volume and then restart you computer do you still hear it?
Restoring the BIOS:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&docname=c02693833
Thank you,