Trying to uninstall 1 of 50 Sql Server 2008 R2 Express hangs on 'Please wait'

Hi,
I am having problems uninstalling 1 of 50 instances on a Windows 2008 R2  Virtual Machine with SQL 2008 R2 Express. The 'Remove SQL Server 2008 R2' gui hangs on 'Please wait' after clicking next on the 'Select Features' window when trying to remove this instance.
Is there a solution to my problem which doesn't involve a reboot as it's a production machine?
Thanks, truncated log below due to post restrictions...
Chris
2012-07-18 15:12:30 Slp: Running Action: SetMultiInstanceTransformAction
2012-07-18 15:12:31 Slp: GetInstalledTransformByMsi is verifying on package id sql_engine_core_inst_Cpu32 but the package has no version 2012-07-18 15:12:31 Slp: GetInstalledTransformByMsi is verifying on package id sql_engine_core_inst_loc_Cpu64_1028 but the package has no version 2012-07-18 15:12:31 Slp: GetInstalledTransformByMsi is verifying on package id sql_engine_core_inst_loc_Cpu64_1031 but the package has ...