Quote - Yeah, what svdl said. I would have suggested maybe a capacitor blew, but he's probably right. I hope you didn't throw away the drives, because they're probably still good.

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I don't have Vista.. I avoid it like the plague right now.  But, some people say that installing Poser in its default "Programs" directory will cause problems in Vista because of the permissions that Poser needs to have available to it in that otherwise Vista "protected" directory.  So, they recommend installing Poser in a directory by itself, off the main root directory instead so as to avoid database/runtime access issues.

Yeah, right. Vista manages memory a whole lot better, particularly runs 64 bit programs faster and more stable, and every last little bit of that permissions stuff can be done away with by disabling the UAC.
Vista isn't any kind of "plague", it's the way MS operating system's are going. I've been running Vista x64 for over a year and a half on three different computers and have zero, zilch, nada trouble with it. I've done benchmarks with various games, Maya, max, modo, and LightWave under Vista and XP x64, and Vista has come out on top on all occasions. Maybe not Poser though. No mere operating system alone can save Poser...
People who have trouble with Vista either have mediocre hardware or don't know how to take control of their computers.
Best get used to the idea - XP is soon to be history, unsupported, abandonware.

I'm not trying to get into an OS debate.  I avoid Vista "like the plague" for a number of reasons right now including legacy-ware that has significant problems operating in Vista.

I will be "Vista-rized" when I build my next computer.  Yet, I will still be using this XP-Pro box for awhile yet.