Start >Programs >Accessories >Entertainment >Volume Control is one way to do it. Make sure that all of them are up high and none of the "muted" options are checked. Of course, you will manually have to turn up your volume. ^_^ If all that doesn't help, you might have corrupt sound drivers. This can happen with certain errors you might get at startup, but can usually easily be bypassed by uninstalling and re-installing your sound drivers.