Windows 7 - no sound at startup-possible solution

When I first booted up my new dell inspiron 546 I couldn't get any sound. I called Dell and after a remote viewing the rep got sound but didn't know how. Afterwords I still had the problem upon starting up again but a simple restart got sound back again. I finally realized after some anxiety that I needed to turn on my amplified speakers (operating out of line out) BEFORE starting up instead of turning them on AFTER starting up.

Am I the only one who had this "problem".

edit: forget it. Problem still exists. I've noticed though, that when it does start up properly with sound 2 icons appear on the sign in screen- ease of access and shut down options.
For now I'll just restart as necessary since that does temporarily work. Also I've read that restarting should be the first option before asking for help.