Recently I bought a Kingston DataTraveler G4 16G flashdirive.
It opens automatically when I plug it in, which I expect. However if I close the window it will reopen after a few seconds, and usually my Home folder will open as well—sometimes several times!

None of my other flash drives behave this way.
I am running Linux Mint 18.1 Cinnamon 64 bit (I haven't yet tried this in my other computers to see if this is specific to Mint).

Is there any way of eliminating this behavior?

Thanks.

Does it happen more if you jiggle the drive? I wonder if it is a marginal connection. When doing this, if you choose to, I'd turn the sound up so you can hear the tones indicating it sees a drive inserted or removed. At least if you happen to have your sound low, and didn't disable that sound effect.

I don't know the manufacturer, I also checked to see if the DataTraveler looked similar, it doesn't. But my company bought some quantity of these ones where the USB metal connection slides into the drive packet as part of their handy form of hiding/protecting it. Invariably if I insert one of those drives, I have to force my thumb in to keep the drive from compacting itself as I insert it. Very annoying and I avoid those.

Something like this thing:https://pixabay.com/en/flash-drive-u...-drive-295105/

Just a note that I use a Kingston DataTraveler G4 32GB flash drive on my Mint 19 MATE system and do not experience the same issue as you. This was also the case when I used it on Mint 18.1/2/3 MATE.

Have you tried using a different USB port?

This seems weirdly specific: I have tried other ports and the result is the same (note that none of my other usb keys behave this way).

But I have tried the problem key on an Aspire 1 Netbook running Puppy, and it does not act up, and I tried it on a Lenovo T60 Thinkpad running Linux Mint Cinnamon 32 bit, also without problems.

Maybe the DataTraveller doesn't like 64 bit systems? I don't have a second one to try,unfortunately.

The system on which I use my DataTraveller is 64-bit.

That's weird. Have the same flash drive also and it works smoothly.

Maybe a faulty USB socket(?).

Yesterday I upgraded from Mint 18.1 to Mint 18.3, wondering if the problem will vanish, but it still exists. It does not matter which port it is plugged into. I am waiting for a chance to try another 64 bit computer.
The problem is not important, but I think it is curious.

have you tried reformatting the drive?
to fat32, just one partition? something simple.

While it's opening/closing, run That should tell you what's going on.

The computer where I saw this problem has died, and I have not seen this problem on the new computer, so I guess I call it solved. I guess if I can't understand a problem, having it go away is good enough.

At a guess and without sufficient information, perhaps the usb was dodgy before the rest of the PC died?

Those big black usually square things on motherboards are Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). Some bit of one of them will house the IP for USB chips, Network chips, SATA, Bluetooth chips, keyboard, etc. Manufacturing is always at the limit of achievable technology. One failure mode is that something leaks, but passes tests. Add the stresses of daily operation, the leak increases, localized heat becomes an issue and component failure spreads until the motherboard dies.

That could be the case?

The flash-drive is only months old, and has always played nicely with other computers. With the problem computer it always behaved oddly, regardless of the usb port it was plugged into.
Just one of those things. . .