Side by Side issue

Hi.

I have a Windows 7 x64 Home Premium laptop. When trying to run any x86 application it comes up with:
"The application has failed to start because its side-by-side configuration is incorrect. Please see the application event log or use the command-line sxstrace.exe tool for more detail.

The sxstrace output:

=================
Begin Activation Context Generation.
Input Parameter:
Flags = 6
ProcessorArchitecture = Wow32
CultureFallBacks = en-US;en
ManifestPath = System Default Context
TextualIdentity = Microsoft.Windows.SystemCompatible,version="6.0.0.0",type="win32",publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df", processorArchitecture="x86"
AssemblyDirectory = C:\Windows\WinSxs
Application Config File =
-----------------
INFO: Resolving reference Microsoft.Windows.SystemCompatible,version="6.0.0.0",type="win32",publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df", processorArchitecture="x86".
INFO: Resolving reference for ProcessorArchitecture Unknown.
INFO: Resolving reference for culture Unknown.
INFO: Applying Binding Policy.
INFO: Auto Servicing Policy redirected assembly version.
INFO: Post policy assembly identity is Microsoft.Windows.SystemCompatible,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="6595b64144ccf1df",typ e="win32",version="6.0.7600.16385".
INFO: Begin assembly probing.
INFO: End assembly probing.
ERROR: Activation Context generation failed.
End Activation Context Generation.

=================

Any ideas?

Problems with WINSXS are very rare. But when they occur they are serious. There are no tools for dealing with WINSXS - it is completely managed by Windows itself and there is no information available about it's internal structure.

Usually problems with WINSXS have to do with only one piece of software - somehow the contents of WINSXS get of of synch with the program itself, so the usual fix is to deinstall the program and then reinstall it. THis usually gets things back in synch.

But if you are having problems with any 32-bit program your situation is different. The only suggestion I can give is to try to do a system restore from a previous restore point that did not have the problem. If that fails you might have to do a clean reinstall of Windows.

Was afraid of that. System restore failed. sfc fails. So will reload. Thanks.