Need some help with my audio.

So earlier today I was listening to music. I turned off my comp and went for a snack. When I came back, I wanted to listen to some music and found to my big surprise that the sound wasn't working. I tried restarting my comp, and when logging in I got the usual Windows startup sound, halfway in, it stopped and the sound still didn't work. I reinstalled my sound driver and it worked. However, now it's back to not working, and I really don't feel like reinstalling it each and every time this happens. Hoping for some help. Using Realtek AC'97. (I'm not a uber geek, so try to keep it simple

 

Don't know if it has anything to do with this, but the first time it happened I had just switched to my headset.

 

A bumb for justice.

 

My usual answer (which is sometimes wrong) to a problem that doesn't make good sense is : Check to make sure that you are malware free. You may want to hold off till you get another answer or even try a post in the software section because I see you posted first a couple of days ago and haven't gotten a response.
If you go to Malware make sure you follow all of the steps. Those nasty bugs can do alot of weird things.
http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=35407