C:\Program Data\Microsoft is corrupt or unreadable

I am getting an error C:\Program Data\ Microsoft is corrupt or unreadable. I finally found this path thanks to one of the post on here...my problem now is the folder show no files or folders (0 files) and it will not open give me error that its corrupt or unreadable. I cannot load and new software (was trying to load Visio and Office 2007) it will give me this error. What and where do I need to go to reload these files (if that is what needs to be done). Mainly I am trying to figure out how I can load these applications. I also can't download any updates, I get this error message when ever I turn on the computer for IEUSER and other things but I can use everything, access internet, etc. Thanks for your Help

Hello Ferglump, and welcome to Vista Forums.

You might see if doing a System Restore at boot using a restore point dated before you had this problem may be able to fix it for you.

Hope this helps,
Shawn