not recognizing hardware

[cheftom123]

HI. i am new here and to ubuntu. i installed Ubuntu 11.10 and it worked great. then i reboot my computer and now it doesn't recognize hardware for the sound or wifi. it doesn't say that but it just doesn't connect and the sound doesn't work. i went to additional drivers but it wouldn't open the window, but it has a lock symbol on it. i think this may be the cause of the problem but i don't know how to fix it.

thanks in advance.
Tom

[utnubuuser]

Possibly...

Try: System>>Administration>>Users and Groups

Select your user, and make sure you have the appropriate permissions selected.

[cheftom123]

I went to system>user accounts (i couldn't find user and groups) and it says:
"Failed to contact the accounts service
please make sure that the AccountService is enabled."

I don't know if user accounts is what you meant or not.