Trying to open a folder opens the Search panel in Windows Explorer

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Guest

I have a client running Windows XP SP2. It was working fine until just
recently. Now, when she attempts to open any folder by double-clicking, the
Search screen and Search panel opens up instead. This is easily replicated on
her machine, because it happens every time. The only thing that she remembers
happening recently is that an "Adobe update" was installed around the same
time this started.

I noticed two pieces of spyware installed (starware or starwave or something
like that, and one other). I removed both of them, but no improvement. I also
ran a full virus scan and Spybot S&D scan. Nothing turned up. I reset all the
defaults in View>Folder Options, but it did not fix the problem.

Google searches turned up a few different possibilities, including one that
sounded like an exact match, but it didn't fix the problem either. I've
looked through her registry for "search" and compared all likely sounding
regkeys to ones on a known-good system, and they matched.

Here is a more detailed explanation of what happens...
A1) Double-click on My Computer on her Desktop or select My Computer from
the Start Menu.
2) Double-click on any disk drive shown (local drives or network drives).
3) A second window opens displaying the Search window opens up (the one with
the little doggie search assistant by default). In the toolbar, the "Search"
button is depressed.
4) Selecting "Folders" from the View menu or the toolbar will display the
folder view of My Computer again (i.e., not the view of the drive that was
selected in step 2, but back to step #A1).

B1) If you map a network drive, instead of automatically opening the newly
connected drive like normal, the Search window appears instead.

C1) You can view the contents of any drive by using the folder view and
navigating your way through the folder tree.
2) Double-clicking any folder in the right-hand pane opens the Search window.
3) Double-clicking an application or data file works as expected.

It really sounds to me like some registry setting related to the default
action of opening a folder is out of whack, but I can't figure out which one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

--Will Murray
 
Willscrlt said:
I have a client running Windows XP SP2. It was working fine until just
recently. Now, when she attempts to open any folder by double-clicking, the
Search screen and Search panel opens up instead. This is easily replicated on
her machine, because it happens every time. The only thing that she remembers
happening recently is that an "Adobe update" was installed around the same
time this started.

I noticed two pieces of spyware installed (starware or starwave or something
like that, and one other). I removed both of them, but no improvement. I also
ran a full virus scan and Spybot S&D scan. Nothing turned up. I reset all the
defaults in View>Folder Options, but it did not fix the problem.

Google searches turned up a few different possibilities, including one that
sounded like an exact match, but it didn't fix the problem either. I've
looked through her registry for "search" and compared all likely sounding
regkeys to ones on a known-good system, and they matched.

Here is a more detailed explanation of what happens...
A1) Double-click on My Computer on her Desktop or select My Computer from
the Start Menu.
2) Double-click on any disk drive shown (local drives or network drives).
3) A second window opens displaying the Search window opens up (the one with
the little doggie search assistant by default). In the toolbar, the "Search"
button is depressed.
4) Selecting "Folders" from the View menu or the toolbar will display the
folder view of My Computer again (i.e., not the view of the drive that was
selected in step 2, but back to step #A1).

B1) If you map a network drive, instead of automatically opening the newly
connected drive like normal, the Search window appears instead.

C1) You can view the contents of any drive by using the folder view and
navigating your way through the folder tree.
2) Double-clicking any folder in the right-hand pane opens the Search window.
3) Double-clicking an application or data file works as expected.

It really sounds to me like some registry setting related to the default
action of opening a folder is out of whack, but I can't figure out which one.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

--Will Murray
Click to expand...

Search opens when double clicking a folder. See Line #18
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm
 
Well, the PC did have Google set as the default search provider, but this fix
did not fix the problem. I have confirmed that the standard Microsoft search
provider is now the default, and Google has been removed. The registry hack
did its job, but the Search window still opens instead of the desired content.

Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate it.

--Will Murray
 
Willscrlt said:
Well, the PC did have Google set as the default search provider, but this fix
did not fix the problem. I have confirmed that the standard Microsoft search
provider is now the default, and Google has been removed. The registry hack
did its job, but the Search window still opens instead of the desired content.

Thanks for the suggestion. I appreciate it.

--Will Murray
Click to expand...

Here's another Folder fix.. unzip the file, then merge it:

http://dougknox.com/xp/fileassoc/folder_reg.zip

From:
http://dougknox.com/xp/file_assoc.htm
 
*sigh* That one didn't work either. Tomorrow I will try logging in as a
different user to see if it's only her profile or if it is all profiles. It
could be something corrupted within her profile, and deleting her profile and
creating a new one might fix the problem. But if it is system-wide, then
that's a different problem with a different fix required. But that's a
challenge for tomorrow.

Thanks again for all your help.

--Will Murray
 
Fantastic! That did the trick. Thank you (and Elmo, too) for the help.

I know the user wouldn't have knowingly (and probably not unknowingly
either) have mucked around with those settings. I figure it must have been
something to do with one of the pieces of spyware I removed from her system.

Thanks again for the help!

--Will Murray
 
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