When a SmartFinder is opened, the focus will be on the text field for which you base your search. Though Item Numbers are a special case because they require the item formatting mask, they behave the same as for other searches with any information all selected ('highlighted in blue') so that typing will overwrite it.

Just clicking in the field will not select everything - but if you tab into the field, it will.

The fact that only one computer has the problem means that it works on other computers? What is different about this one computer? I guess that may be the question.

Remembering the search criteria (by user) is a feature of Adagio and will only be cleared when the program is closed. If the information is not cleared, then there is a problem with your system clearing the temporary smart finder data files - OEF###.

If you continue to have the problem, could you indicate the steps that you are doing and the behaviour that happens, and the behaviour that you were expecting?