Recording levels on my Dell Laptop with Vista

Hello,
I have recently purchased a new microphone with a USB connection. I am recording through Audacity. I have accessed the Sound Card and adjusted the microphone-in levels; however, everytime I shut down or close the Sound Card application I lose the microphone-in levels. Is there a way to apply a one time setting to set the microphone-in levels. I did notice that the "apply" tab was in grey. Help.