I am fairly well informed when it comes to computers but this is stumping me.
In Windows XP Professional, when I open the start menu and click on the "All Programs" button I get a list of the actual folders in my C:\Program FIles directory.

These are the actual folders in Program Files showing in my start menu not shortcuts. Attempting to right-click and delete a folder affects the actual program installed in the folder. I removed all the shortcuts from the C:\Documents and Settings/All Users/Start Menu/Programs and also from C:\Documents and Settings/MYLOGON/Start Menu/Programs. One for one the remaining entries are every single folder in the C:\Program Files directory.

I created another user profiles to see if I could recreate the problem under another login ID but it does not show under that logon.

I know the problem is user specific but am unaware of any way to pin the contents of a directory to the ALL PROGRAMS button on the XP start menu.

Any ideas how to fix this?
I have never seen this before either and even comparing it to my other computers does not reveal obvious differences.