Windows Explorer Delay

I have been having a few problems with Windows Explorer that prevent
me from using Windows XP Pro properly.

1) On boot, after login, Explorer refuses to open any folder windows.
Furthermore, no network connections work (dial-up or LAN). The problem
corrects itself after a period of time, usually 10 seconds to two
minutes.At that point, Explorer opens all the windows I requested all
at once and network connections begin to function.

2) Explorer will not open any Properties dialogs, at all. That is,
after right-clicking on any file or folder and selecting
"Properties...", Explorer does nothing.

Any help would be great

Thanks