Most programs not visible in Programs and Features in windows 7

Question

The issue I'm having is that only a small percentage of programs show up in the "Program and Features" section of Windows 7, where a user can uninstall programs. Formerly known as add/remove programs.

When I use uninstall software such as TweakNow Powerpack, all software does show up and I can uninstall whatever I want with great success. This is not the issue and I am not satisfied with this work around, I would like to solve the core issue and get the list to populate in the proper location.

In tweakNow, it shows about 60 programs, In Windows Programs and Features, it shows only about 20, most of which were installed recently, post heavy virus removal. Oddly in Revo, it shows only 14. I have also looked into the registry keys that house the uninstall information:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall

These locations don't contain any DisplayName or UninstallString with more than 60 or 63 characters. Here is a screenshot of the full tilt poker entry in the registry which does not show up in the list.

Things I've tried:
sfc/scannow
DiskCheck
These fixes: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/244764-45-programs-remove-programs
Booted into safe mode, same amount of programs appear.
Created a new user account, same results.

Doing a fresh install is out of the question.

Answer 1

Here's a link to an article on how the Programs&Features list actually works: http://community.spiceworks.com/how_to/2238-how-add-remove-programs-works

In the particular case of your poker program, it's the presence of the SystemComponent value in the programs's registry key with data "1" that prevents it being included in the list (so the article says). I assume that your other "missing" programs have similar reasons for being excluded.