No audio after opening Cubase 8

I recently installed Cubase 8 onto my Windows 7 computer, and successfully registered and activated everything. I am able to open the software; however as soon as I do, all my audio stops working. Any external applications will not work, as well as the sound for Cubase 8. I have to restart my computer to get the audio working again. Only to have it hiccup again when I open Cubase.
I can tell that my computer is picking up audio via my microphone and MIDI devices, however it will not play it back. Any suggestions as far as what to do? I am unfamiliar with Cubase 8, and a little overwhelmed as far as how to approach it.

Thanks!
~D

cubase is a very complex program. add some more info about your setup to make it easier for users to make suggestions. without knowing what you have it is hard to determine the cause. one possibility is try clicking the little “speaker icon/monitor” on the audio track next to the record arm button. for a midi track you must have an instrument loaded/routed correctly (input/output) and record button (armed/red). do you have your vst connections set up correctly for your interface? are you using an asio driver? do you have direct monitoring enabled? etc etc etc.
as you can see there is no “standard fix” each setup is unique.
page 17 of the included “getting started” manual is a good place to start.

cheers

Also, make sure your busses are routed correctly (F4).
If ‘Release audio driver in background’ (or something like this) is not checked in preferences, Steinberg will take and hold possesion of the audio-drive as long as it is running. This does indeed mean that other applications will not be able to use it which results in no sound for these other applications.