A quick google and I visited http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=5582 to get the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 SP1 Redistributable Package. Once it was installed, I launched CHIRP again. Success.
Right, it's not that SP3 is required, but rather that this library needs to be on your system. Lots (and lots) of older software will actually revert versions of system libraries to older versions when they install, which seems to leave folks in various states of broken.
I'm not sure whether the SP3 relation is real or just a good step in the right drection of having a consistent set of libraries on your system or not.
Jim, perhaps we need a dedicated page on the wiki for this issue (like the port settings one) where we can offer some more direct solutions for folks that have worked for others in the past?