Trouble with "search" in XP

[Dolphin Tim]

Running XP home edition with service pack 2. All updates are current. This has been a problem for several months, just not enough trouble to try to repair.
When you try to launch a search via <start> <search> the system freezes up. I still have access to the keyboard so I can open up windows task manager and close programs from there, but I have no mouse and everything else is just suspended.
Windows knowledge base is without knowledge on this issues as is all of the forums I have visited. I am running Norton System Works with current virus and spyware profiles, nothing shows as an issue. I do not want to reinstall XP as it wants to wipe out everything. This is not a function I use often but when I need it, I need it. Any help?