Unresponsive window

[lameth]

I'm not even sure how to describe this problem....
I was having a problem signing on with MSN messenger. Long
story short after working with tech support I can finally
sign on but I have a new problem.
When I start my computer I have a thin grey bar on the
left side of the screen. When I click on the bar I can
drag the edge of the window pane to the right and enlarge
the window. What is displayed is My network places but
it's not the normal network places window. The window is a
grey box with add network connection, Network Setup, and
entire world. There is no title bar and no drop down
menus. Right click in the windows does not give me any
option to close the window. Also when I bring up the task
manager there is nothing refering to my network places as
being open.
Has anyone seen this before. I captured the screen and
saved it as a jpeg if anyone wants to see what I'm talking
about.