well,

I finally got it fixed without an uninstall/reinstall...painfully, but fixed nonetheless:

Solution----

Extracted the corresponding .exe files from the patches/hotfixes/SP/RTM. Replaced the following files which were reported missing:

Missing installer package...

Roc -

I was just thinking that yesterday after reviewing this again. I had to step away from it for a couple of days and regroup and came to the same...