No sound in Safe mode

In normal mode, I can barely get Windows to boot—if it even succeeds, it takes an eternity and runs painfully slow. I ran a hardware diagnostic in the BIOS, and the HDD test keeps throwing error codes 303 and 305. According to my research, those errors indicate the hard drive is failing. Curiously, I can still boot the system in Safe mode, and it actually functions, though there is zero sound. When I check the audio card in the Device Manager, it simply says, "Status is not available for this device when Windows is running in Safe mode." Is there any way to get the audio working while in Safe mode? I'm using an HP Compaq CQ71 laptop. I'm currently on a cruise ship with internet access for only two more days, so a quick response would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

It sounds like you're dealing with the classic issue where there's no sound while Windows is running in Safe mode... It’s actually pretty normal—Windows basically strips everything down to the bare essentials and just loads the most basic drivers and files when you're in that mode. If you have access to another computer, maybe try downloading CrystalDiskInfo from there? Then, you could jump back into Safe mode on your own machine, install it, and run the program. It'll give us a clear picture of what's going on with your hard drive status, so just let me know what it says once you've had a look..

CDInfo shows a Caution status, and even though I manually adjusted the C5 (Current Pending Sector Count) from 1 01h to 0 00h, it simply flipped to Good. The problem persists regardless. In several categories, the current and worst values remain identical. More importantly, the hard drive is overheating significantly; CDInfo reported a worst-case temperature of 178 degrees Fahrenheit. After about 10 or 15 minutes of use, the drive becomes almost too hot to touch. All signs point to a failing hard drive. For the next two months, I only need this laptop for movies and music, so if I could just get the audio working in Safe mode, that would solve my immediate problem. I was hoping someone might know how to load drivers for audio while in Safe mode, but it seems... unlikely.
On the other hand, I have my doubts... if the hard drive were actually dead, wouldn't it be impossible to boot Windows even in Safe mode?

Same exact thing happened to me. My old laptop started overheating the HDD like crazy. Took it to a local repair shop, they cleaned out the fan, but it didn't do squat. Fast forward two months later? The motherboard kicked the bucket.