Vista - Errors with open file dialog in Word, OpenOffice and more

I have been working to try to solve a problem within MS Word, where if I go
to the File/Open menu, the File/Open dialogue box opens and then I get the
dreaded "Microsoft Word has stopped Working" message.

I have already spent a good deal of time in the MS Word newsgroup, (see
http://www.microsoft.com/communities...cr=&sloc=en-us) for details.

Terry Farrell suggested posting in this group.

It apparently is not a Word issue, as I downloaded and installed OpenOffice
as a temporary fix, or so I thought, and it has exactly the same problem.

The crash always occurs in propsys.dll according to the Application log in
the Event Viewer. I have replaced propsys.dll and propdefs.dll with copies
from a working system, but that has not solved the problem.

One other issue I have, and I have no idea if this is related or not, but if
I go into the Control Panel and try to open the User's and Accounts control,
nothing opens. So, I cannot manage any accounts at this time.

If anyone has any ideas short of reinstalling the whole system, I would
appreciate it.