On my desktop I have folders I placed with my own naming.  When I try to open the folder with my mouse left click button (double click), the "Search" screen opens.  The only way I can open the folder is to right click and then scroll to "open" and that works.  I know I must have done something to my mouse settings but I cannot find what I did.  Any suggestions?

in control panel, click on mouse and check settings of buttons.

   I was able to duplicate your problem by going to the File Types section of the Folder Options of Windows Explorer.  I selected the File Folder item, clicked on the Advanced button, selected "find" from the list, and clicked on the Set Default button.
   If you right click on a folder or file and the popup menu shows one of the items in bold, that item will be executed when the folder or file is double clicked.  The File Types section allows you to set an item in bold by clicking on the Set Default button in the Advanced button.  But it does not allow you to undo the Set Default.
   The only way I know to solve this is to make a change in the registry.  Generally what you do is:

• Run regedit,
  
• go to the item's folder (in your case it is the Directory folder) in HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT,
  
• select the "shell" subfolder, and
  
• delete or change the (Default) value.
  

   The (Default) value of the "shell" folder specifies which subfolder is Default.  In your case you should go to the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell key and delete the (Default) value.  If deleting the (Default) value does not solve the problem, try modifying its Value Data to be "open".