Vista - Bootup security delays after installing HP driver software: slow firewall start, UAC modify delay, sometimes bad or slow initial wireless connectivity

I am running Vista on a machine which simply should not have any issues:  I recently reinstalled Vista and got my updates through Service Pack 2, I installed my OEM Trend Micro Internet Security Firewall before ever connecting it to the internet for the first time, and I like to think I'm generally savvy about network connectivity.  This machine connects wirelessly to my network with other computers in my home in which, for the sake of this post, are running just fine.  (No Active Directory; no Windows Server.)  The only difference with this machine from the others is that it is running Trend Micro for security, and the others (XP, Vista, and 7) are running the surprisingly non-bloatware Norton 09 solution.

I recently installed some HP printer driver software, and since then have really noticed issues with connectivity.  I am not sure if all my issues were there before but they're certainly here now.

After I reboot I usually get all 3 of these problems:

Issue 1:  Every time:  Windows claims I have no firewall while Trend Micro IS is starting up.  My experience is that firewalls load on boot, not on login.  The firewall certainly takes its sweet time to load.

Issue 2:  Sometimes occurs:  Wireless internet connectivity sometimes won't connect or "ghost" connects.  By ghost connecting I mean that it claims to be connected but isn't.  I can't go to a website, for example, and cycling the power on the wireless radio has no effect.  I can, however, connect via hardware ethernet just fine.  The fix to this is to bring up the wireless network connections window and then, without clicking anything, my network will be found and then automatically connect just as I had it configured.  One odd side effect of this is that sometimes it will create duplicate network profile entries.  For example, if my profile name was "my network" for some SSID "home_net", it would say it had been connected (ghost connected) to a "my network 2", but that now it was also now connected to a "my network".  I've done this enough where now I also have a "my network 2 3" (how does this kind of name get created?  Two space three?  I can't make this stuff up!) yet with the same SSID "home_net".

Issue 3:  User Account Control slow to switch on.  This may seem like a strange thing to complain about, but I don't recall turning UAC off and I noticed that the Windows Security Center complaining that it was off.  I hit the button to turn it on, and the complaint was still there, still with the same button that says to turn it on.  This was the case after hitting the on button several times.  After about ten minutes or so it said it was turned on.

That's pretty much it.  Am I silly for being so annoyed?  Do you suspect I have a virus or need to reinstall Vista?  I haven't even finished my reinstall from last time.