If I may pop in with a couple of suggestions (one mild and one extreme):
Mild Suggestion:
For some people, it was required to install the Windows Media Encoder libraries, in the past. Perhaps this is the same problem you have run into, especially when I see that you have had this problem for a while. You do not need to use the utilities that are included with the 'Official' Windows Media Encoder downloads, it is mainly the encoder libraries (codec support files that it installs) that you would be interested in (they get installed automatically into Windows when you install this utility pack). To download the Windows Media Encoding tools directly from Microsoft, they can be found here:
http://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/download/details.aspx?id=17792
Extreme Suggestion:
Keep plugging away at it and trying things out (you are to be complimented for your patience and persistence)! But if absolutely nothing works for you in the end, there is always the 'Last Step' of Re-installing Windows (formatting and reinstalling the operating system). It is extreme (as stated), but whenever I have run into a problem on the systems of others (at work or at their home), if 'nothing else works', then a clean re-installation of Windows - and starting off by installing only what you need, usually gets things going, in the end. Hopefully it won't come to that (most people don't like to do it ha) but always remember, your problem may be fixed, at the end of the road possibly, by trying it out.
Good luck with it and I hope things work out for you soon
~Troy
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at Sep 14. 2014 15:43