I'm also getting the subject error when trying to open Windows Live Photo Gallery.  I have Windows 7 64 bit.

I've uninstalled Windows Essentials and re-installed it offline - didn't work.

I regressed and tried to gather event logs unsuccessfully (what file am I saving on the Desktop????)

Please dumb it down a little for us abusers.

I see that this has been a problem for some for quite a long time.  Have you found a solution?