wtf's a generic host process?!

Hi guys, first time posting here. Hope you can help. My sound has gone and I think it may be an OS fault. When I startup I can a message saying "Generic Host Process for Win32 Services". Saying that I was in the middle of something and it's encountered a problem. None of my sound files work now and when I try to open the volume control it says "There are no active mixer devices available" and that I should go to my control panel to open up a new device. When I do this it tells me that my soundcard is working. Any ideas?

What OS are you using?
Windows XP Sp1, 2 or 3?
Windows Vista?

I'm running off XP (SP1, 2 or 3 means nothing to me). Can't give much more info than that mate. ran virus and spyware checks but nothing came up.