Open regedit (from Ctrl+R or Cmd). The key that I needed to change the permissions on was Scripting.FileSystemObject.
1. Selected the key (HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Scripting.FileSystemObject) and received the error "Cannot open Scripting.FileSystemObject: Error while opening key."
2. Clicked Ok.
3. Selected Edit Permissions from the menu and received the error "You don't have permission to view the current permission settings for Scripting.FileSystemObject but you can make permission changes.
4. Clicked Ok.
5. On the Security page, selected Advanced, then the Owner tab. The Owner box displayed "Unable to display current owner."
6. Selected Administrators to update the owner and clicked Apply and Ok.
7. Then on the Security page, clicked Add and typed Administrators and clicked Check Names. Selected the correct option and clicked Ok.
8. Checked Allow for Full Control and Read and clicked Apply and Ok.
Voila! I can now create projects in Visual Studio.Net once again. I do not have a clue how these permissions were changed but I know I didn't do it. I hope this helps you.