When I turn my computer on in the morning, before I click on anything or try to open any of my programs, that small rotating circle appears next to my cursor, and reappears every few seconds, as if the computer is trying to start a program. It happens continuously even after an hour of me checking e-mail, going to FB, playing my morning solitaire game etc. What is the computer trying to do, and how do I make it stop?

Reboot and see if this resolves the issue.

I have rebooted and that does not help.