ACL Invalid in Vista Ultimate, can't access files

I was noticing some access problems on Vista Ulitmate PC. When I accessed a
folder on my primary drive and looked at the security settings, I get the
following

information where the "Groups or user names" should should be shown.

---------------------------

No permissions have been assigned for this object.

Warning: this is a potential security risk because anyone who can access
this object can take ownership of it. The object’s owner should assign
permissions as soon as

possible.

---------------------------

if I access a folder and try to add a group or user, apply the allow
permissions and then click OK, I get a dialog box that reads:

-----------------------------------

Error Applying Security

An error occurred whil applying security information to:

C:\AProgram\Code

The access control list (ACL) structure is invalid.

-----------------------------------

if I click ok. it repeats for every folder under the AProgram folder.
Then, when I go back to look at a program, it lists all of the users that
should be in the list

of user names for the AProgram folder, not just the one I added. If I click
a folder under AProgram, it shows the original "No permissions.." error
above. If I add a

user to that folder's security I get the ACL error. And this repeats until
I get down to the individual file level. If I add a user to an individual
file, then all of

the users show up for that file and the security is set correctly. THe
problem is it appears to have to be done file by file. THat would take
forever.

I tried to use the Startup repair in Vista, but it does not find any problems.

Does anyone know how to fix this?