It appears that the source of most of this type of error message is the application itself.  Most of the responses from vendors to users experiencing problems of this sort have included recommendations that the user check for patches for the application or upgrade to a newer version.  Have you looked into either of these options?

Actually this program is provided every month on a CD. It installs each time, but there is no "uninstall" feature, and Add/Remove Programs in Control Panel doesn't see it, so it doesn't seem possible to get a clean install. When it installs, it changes the registry, saving the old one wit a changed extension. I'm really intimidated by the registry, but would make changes to it under specific instructions from an expert. The Value Line Customer Service rep I have dealt with seems to understand only how the program works, not how it is constructed.