Thanks for the lead, JD. I tried "DAF" (Dial-a-Fix) with no success. Did the default "Fix" option. The same error was returned after running DAF and then trying to use Windows Update. I even turned off auto updates to see if manual update would work. This is a stubborn glitch.
I am pretty convinced that CCleaner was involved. If I recall, the older machine had about 200Mb of "clutter" removed the first time I ran the program.
I'll try Andavari's suggestion, also - second reply.
Bruce