This could be your sound drivers not being compatible with older standards. Which soundcard is integrated into your Laptop?

Witcher uses Miles Soundsystem, which is emulated by an emulation called indirectsound.
https://www.indirectsound.com/

Copy the .dll and the .ini file into the Witcher\System directory (where witcher.exe lies).
Then edit the .ini and set
eax1 = true
eax2 = true
miles = true
(look for the values and change them)
This for me even brought EAX surround sound, not with all effects, but it's better than nothing

Edit: I installed Witcher 1 to try. Sadly in my case it worked without problems, so I can only give hints.
The use of indirectsound however brought surround options back, so at least the game is able to use that emulation. Maybe that does it for you.

Also try the game's forum instead of the general discussion forum. Maybe you find a solution there.