internet explorer and startup programs

I have an Inspiron 6000, which I just received 2 days ago.  I'm already having a problem with internet explorer.  I sometimes have to click on it several times to get it to open and then when I shut down the computer it tells me to end internet explorer for as many times I clicked on it even though it never opened.  It doesn't even appear in task manager.  Also, not every program starts each time I start the computer.  I have to manually start my security software most of the time.  It seems really random which ones start and which don't.