XP Explorer Common Tasks selection locks up Explorer

In my XP Pro Media Center, when Explorer (not Internet Explorer) is open with the “common tasks” column on the left, clicking on any of the any of the “Other Places” selections, e.g., My Documents, My Computer, etc. causes Explore to hang. Eventually I have to kill it (whereupon all the other Explorer windows and the Taskbar close it restarts itself). I do not remember if those links have ever worked… it is just plain annoying! What can I do to fix this (I’m sure it isn’t by design 😉 )

Bill…