That's pretty much exactly what happens with my perfectly fine until today, Windows XP computer. Whenever I try to open any folder or drive, it goes straight to the Search menu (the Windows one, you know it), with the "Look in:" parameter filled in by the drive or folder I was trying to open.
Now, my computer was working completely fine until today, and it all started when I put my memory stick (which I had lent to a friend over the weekend..... hmm...) into my PC, and tried to access it. What came up was quite interesting. The computer was asking me what to open my E:\ drive (mem. stick drive) with (some options included Internet Explorer, Paint, Photoshop, Windows Media Player.... it was quite a large list, actually)!
Anyway, to access my E:\ drive, I just used CMD to open it, and then I could move some files. Once I was done, I was opening my C:\ to delete a program which had been bugging me (Messenger Discovery Live, which I'll address in another post once this is resolved), when the Search menu popped up.
Which leads me to here. So, any ideas, folks?
CONDENSED VERSION
Pc. Version: Windows XP, SP2
Problem: Search menu pops up whenever I try to open any drive/folder
When did this start: Today, after using my flash drive
Recent programs: Messenger Discovery Live (which I had unistalled, then reinstalled, but still won't go away...)