Error Accessing System Registry Woes

I often code VBA macros at work, using version 6.0 for Office 2003 under Windows XP. Recently, I've been running into some troubling behavior. Whenever I try to add or change a reference (in any VBA platform, so this includes Excel, Word, etc) to a DLL file, I get the error message "Error accessing system registry", and am unable to continue further. However, the programs that were referencing something before I ran into this problem continue normally. I have tried repairing Excel, running System Restore, and verifying I have permissions for the registry in question. I have cleaned the registry, and nuked all pre-existing VBA keys to no effect. I do not have Crystal Reports or any similar software installed, and have admin rights on my machine. I have tried reading each FAQ and using whichever solutions provided.

Is there anything further that can be causing this, and how might I fix it?

Thank you!