HTTP 500 Error Message returned on creation of ANYTHING Web in VS.

[DanL]

I encounter the error Message "HTTP 500 - Internal Server Error" on ANY
attempt to create an instance of that project type (WebService, etc.)

I have seen this problem posted ALL OVER the dotnet discussion groups
without ANY satisfactory answer (I.E. one that works). The only consistent
response has been to post this problem to the ASP.NET forum - so here it is.

I am using Windows XP SP1 and IIS5.1 and Visual Studio 2003.

I have repeated reinstalled IIS and VS2003 in all possible permutations
without success. What is strange is that this behavior only manifested itself
recently which suggests a hotfix caused a problem. A review of all installed
hotfixes yielded no joy when researched on the MS site.

Help!

DanL