Question : stsadm returns "access denied'

when attempting to run any stsadm (including stsadm -help) command on my SharePoint instance I received "Access Denied" error.  I am logged in as an Administer on the machine so am lost as to why this is happening.  Thanks for the help

Answer : stsadm returns "access denied'

SOLVED after about a month of reasearch.
This error does not seem to be related to duplicat objects at all.  Instead, navigate to folder C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Crypto\RSA\ and make sure Admininstrators have FULL control over it and all descendents.  
You should also make sure the account that manages your SSP be in administrators group.