Unresponsive desktop shortcuts Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium

I have spent a couple of weeks researching this with no fix.
Maybe because most of the posts I have read have not contained enough information.

Just to rule out the unnecessary posts, YES I have done the Malware, Spyware, Virus, etc. checks. Not related. Also have tried this running Norton, Bitdefender and currently MSE.

On a fresh reboot everything runs normally. Can open programs, access the start menu, access "My Computer" on the desktop. I am running Firefox and IE 9 for browsers. Can open and use the browsers with no problems. As soon as I pin a program short cut to the task bar or delete an old short cut from the desktop, I lose the ability to open any of the remaining desktop short cuts. Including the My Computer. Each one will highlight when mouse over but will not function.

I can reproduce this over and over. Reboot always fixes it until I alter short cuts again. I believe it is related to the 64 bit version, as I have tried it on 32 bit and all works fine. I need to use the 64 bit for my needs so I need to figure this out.

My test between 32 and 64 included the same hardware and software loaded with the appropriate drivers (32 or 64) as required.

Thanks for trying to help.

Stock load of windows. Using Aero theme.

SFC Scan did don't find any issues.
Icon rebuilder always forces a restart which the restart alone takes care of my issue.

More info for you from last night testing.

Using MSconfig:
Turned off all startup items. - Problem still there
Turned off all startup items and services - Problem still there
Switched to safe boot minimal - Problem gone, could not reproduce lockup

Still running MSE for the antivirus.

Just an update.
I broke down and did another full reload starting with a backup I made when I purchased the computer and had already deleted all the bloatware.

Worked normal after this backup was installed.
Then started the LONG process of installing each program, driver and service I needed. Doing a reboot after each install to see if the problem returned. After a day and a half of reloading, the computer is running great. 16GB ram showed up in the meantime.

I am down to about 3 add on's left to be back to what was installed when I had the problems. I believe my problem may have been when I installed Xobni for Outlook. I am reluctant to try it again but will give it a go after another full backup first. Xobni is the best add on I have ever used with Outlook and never had any troubles with it before. But was getting error messages about security certificate this time.

I am usually running several hungry programs at once. Coreldraw, Solidworks, Autocad, Diptrace, VB.net, Office 2010 and the web.

All is running great since my reload. But still don't know the cause of the original problem. I was originally using Bitdefender antivirus when the problem started and switched to MSE. This time I loaded MSE and never installed Bitdefender. Maybe Bitdefender was the cause? I'll never know.

I do appreciate the comments and those trying to help with a solution.