So recently I installed a program (Microsoft Windows Install Cleanup Utility) which was supposed to aid in uninstalling my Adobe CS3 when I installed Adobe CS4. What it did was fuck up my registry system for a bunch of programs (including my Microsoft Office suite).
I can get everything to run with UAC turned off, but I hear that's a bad idea. I'm thinking about reformatting, though that would probably take 2-3 days of reinstalling software plus the whole tracking down the saved game files for Borderlands, Fallout, all the DLC ... a long list of hassles.

But it was recommended to me I could just buy Windows 7 and that the upgrade would probably clean everything up, and that Windows7 was considerably better anyway. Is that true / would that work?

Running with UAC off is fine if you don't have a proclivity for running .exe attachments from Nigerian princes.

Upgrading to Win7 is a good idea regardless. It's so much better than XP or Vista, the only consideration is whether or not you can justify the expense, not if it's a good idea or not. However, I doubt it would "fix" any corrupted registry settings for third party software (including Office). It probably wouldn't even touch those registry keys.

Either way, you'll probably need to reinstall (or at least "repair") those programs to fix them.

I've tried to reinstall, repair, etc. numerous times w/o success. There's tons of info on the web where people are having the same problem, countless "fixes", but none that seem to work for anyone.

google "Microsoft office 2007 not installed for current user" and you'll see what I mean, it looks like its a reformat OR suffer kinda scenario

*edit* And in making the post I googled that exact phrase and found a solution that worked, but maybe I should upgrade to 7 anyway

This might be a no brainer but what is better? I have Vista Ultimate 64 bit as a dual boot with XP 64 on two of my machines. I hated the Vista so much that I only booted up into Vista to use my Skype adapter for use with my cordless phone since there was no XP driver for it. Skype upgraded recently and bricked my adapter but it still got me thinking that it might be time to move past to 7.

Should I get the full blown install or just get the upgrade disc to take my Vista installs up to 7? If I went the upgrade path, does that lock me into the 64 bit version of 7 as my only sensible upgrade? This is going to be it for OS upgrades for the forseeable future as I am heading back to school soon and won't have any money to waste on software unless its a student version for next to nothing so I am trying to future proof while I still have some disposible income.

Yeah, switching between x86 and x64 requires a full reinstall, even going between the same version of Windows. If your machine came with Vista x64 (or you installed it and it's running okay), stick with it. x64 is necessary if you want to use more than about 3-3.5gb of RAM, and the driver issue is moot now that WDDM signing requires vendors to supply both a 32 and 64 bit driver for everything.

Also, every copy of Windows Vista and 7 is licensed for both the x86 and x64 versions. The same product key will work for either install (though I believe you have to order/download the x64 media separately if you get anything other than the Ultimate edition; it's only a nominal charge for the DVD though).

If it were me, I'd probably back up all the data from both those installs, wipe them out, and install 7 x64 from scratch.

If you can afford it (and they are pretty affordable now), get an 80gb Intel X25-M SSD for just the OS and your programs. Then, use whatever large HDD you feel like for data. You won't believe the speed difference. Plus, that way you can do a fresh install without screwing with your existing OS drive/partitions.