Each time I open the "Programs and Features" dialog from the Control Panel, the entire system hangs up when the list of installed programs is being loaded. I am not able to uninstall any applications due to this reason. What should I do to correct this problem?

This is not exactly the same problem as yours but I think it’s sensible to look at a registry key which causes a large empty space in P and F. It is often due to the DisplayIcon registry value for an item having a negative number. Click the Windows Orb (Start), type regedit, press Enter and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall. Scroll down the sub-keys in the left pane and look at the corresponding value of DisplayIcon in the right pane. If the end of any of the lines has a negative number, say -1, right-click and Modify it to 1 (one). Alternatively, run your ‘anti’ programs as malware could be the problem.

Thanks a lot for the response. Many of the sub-keys there do not have a DisplayIcon key, and the ones that do have the path to the executable as the value. Any other method to get this working?

Have you checked for malware? Have you tried a startup repair using the Vista DVD?