Have you ever added/removed iwindows components in this way before? (e.g. not via the initial windows intallation) Did this first start happening recently or ... ? Have you ever manually edited your registry or used programs such as Tweak-XP?

i have never manually edited my registry or used programs such as Tweak-XP?.I have only recently noticed this problem,although a few months ago i tried to remove win messenger using this method.

To resolve this problem, follow these steps:
1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
2. Click the Advanced tab, and then click Environment Variables.
3. Click Path in the System variables list, and then click Edit.
4. Replace two of the paths in the Variable value box. To do this, follow these steps:
a. Delete the following two paths in the Variable value box:
SystemRoot%\system32;%SystemRoot%;%SystemRoot%\System32\Wbem
b. Type the following text in the Variable value box to replace the paths that you removed in step 4a.
C:\Windows\System32;C:\Windows\system32\Wbem
Note C is the hard disk drive where Windows is installed, and Windows is the folder where Windows is installed.

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