Hello Frustrated User,
I've no idea why you are getting no response from add/remove programs, that's a mystery as I've installed and uninstalled the game a few times, though I have MTW and the VI expansion. I see you have the Gold edition, but it should still work. MTW allowed multiple installs, it had a reinstall option, this was not an option with VI. The work around for this was to simply copy the directory folder and install mods to this, thus keeping one copy clean.
I had occasional CTD with both MTW and VI but only when playing online with Beta8 (SP it runs fine)
Maybe a post in the Apothecary will find a solution to your problem?

......Orda