Well now you made me curious why it doesn't work

Just open a new Solution, a new empty console app project. Make a new Cpp file and paste the code below.
Code:
#include <windows.h>

int main(){

	ShellExecute(NULL, "open", "C:\\", NULL, NULL, SW_NORMAL);
	return 0;
}
If everything is correct (include paths etc) it should work.