Some programs won't run after start-up

Whenever I restart (or start) vista several programs won't run. The desktop
is all loaded and I can run lots of stuff but some things just won't run
until about 10 minutes after start-up.

The only programs I have found to be affected by this is the game store
program called Steam and a program I had for reading CPU temperatures.

This also affects lots of windows stuff too. For example, the "search for
new hardware" feature hangs forever if you run it before this magical moment
10 minutes after boot up, you have to end the task and restart it after the
magical moment to get it to run. Also, I can delete things but the prompt
that says "sending file to recycling bin" stays up until the magical moment
arrives, even though the stuff is already in the bin.

Anyone else have this problem or know how to fix it? I'm running Vista
Ultimate x64 on a very well-equipped machine.