After no success with all the suggestions I tried, I was able to get through to Blackberry technical support and get this resolved. Unfortunately the fix they prescribed is not listed on their forums as being in response to the error message in this string. However, it worked.
Fix referred to knowledge base article KB 11703
BlackBerry Technical Solution Center
How to delete the Intellisync folder if synchronization is unsuccessful
Doc ID : KB11703
Last Modified : 2007-08-13
Document Type : How To delete Intellisync folder
Procedure
Navigate to the Intellisync® folder:
In Windows 2000 or Windows XP
C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Research In Motion\BlackBerry\Intellisync
Delete the Intellisync folder.
Close and reopen BlackBerry Desktop Manager.
In the Intellisync application, reconfigure synchronization settings as needed using the Configure PIM or Configure Synch button.
Try to synchronize again.