I am having a nasty problem with my Windows XP, SP2 Dell Optiplex development machine. Specifically, some process or action removes the subkeys of this Registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
  Software
    Microsoft
      Windows
        CurrentVersion
          Uninstall

This results in the "Remove," "Change," and "Change/Remove" buttons all disappearing from the "Change or Remove Programs" listing in the Add or Remove Programs control panel applet.

The first time the Uninstall key got depopulated, the network administrator at our company performed a clean install of Windows, and he and I reinstalled most of the software. At some point since then, the Uninstall key was wiped again.

Reinstalling a program does repopulate its entry in the Uninstall key.

I've searched the Web, Microsoft's KB, and Microsoft's Windows support forums. Apparently, many others have encountered the same issue. I did not find any reports of known causes or resolutions.

My computer is set up almost identically to at least three other development machines at PPM, NONE of which have had the problem. So far, my suspicions about causes have been undermined by examining the other computers and finding exactly the same suspect system settings and error reports in the event logs. We have also ruled out a corrupt profile.

My machine is the only one that runs Wise for Windows Installer (v. 6.0), and I do a lot of installer-related work. The cause could very well be hidden in this activity; but, to date, we have not found an actual link between the install work and the Registry issue.

TIA for tips, suggestions, or requests for more information.