problem with windows explorer at start

[Guest]

after my laptop boot up, it shows the usual shortcuts and taskbar. but if i
click on any program (eg: msn mess.) it won't start. when i tried to go to
windows explorer, it shows just some of the folders on the left pane. it
won't display anything if i clicked on any of those folders.

i'm always have to wait a couple minutes before everything starts to run
normally. the only way to make things work from the beginning is to go to
task manager and stop the process of explorer.exe

is there a way to fix this?

 

[Guest]

after my laptop boot up, it shows the usual shortcuts and taskbar. but if i
click on any program (eg: msn mess.) it won't start. when i tried to go to
windows explorer, it shows just some of the folders on the left pane. it
won't display anything if i clicked on any of those folders.

i'm always have to wait a couple minutes before everything starts to run
normally. the only way to make things work from the beginning is to go to
task manager and stop the process of explorer.exe

is there a way to fix this?

ADDITIONAL INFO:
windows xp pro sp2
intel centrino 1600mhz
512mnb ram

 

[Guest]

after my laptop boot up, it shows the usual shortcuts and taskbar. but if i
click on any program (eg: msn mess.) it won't start. when i tried to go to
windows explorer, it shows just some of the folders on the left pane. it
won't display anything if i clicked on any of those folders.

i'm always have to wait a couple minutes before everything starts to run
normally. the only way to make things work from the beginning is to go to
task manager and stop the process of explorer.exe

is there a way to fix this?

there's something wrong with my solution above. it should be :
the only way to make things work from the beginning is to click start -> run
-> explorer, that will fix the problem right away.