TrekkieGirl,

First question is did you have UAC off when you installed Poser 8?

If yes then I would wager it's because you are using an older version of Vista (SP1).  I know Poser 8 uses the built in Windows Search 4  as it's search engine.  So the Poser people say to make sure you have Windows Search 4 installed.  (For the record here is another example of really really crappy quality control and very sloppy  development with the installer for Poser 8.  It's a very easy thing to have your installer check the users system to see if they have the necessary installed components and if not, link to them over the internet and install them.  It's been done for years with Direct X tec. etc.)  Anyway.....I think Windows Search 4 is built into SP2 in Vista.  

In order to install the latest updates to your Vista system you should be able to click on your Windows button in the lower left of your screen,  click all programs, and Windows Update should be an option as you scroll down through the menu choices.  Click that and that should scan your system and download the latest Vista updates.

You may actually have to reinstall Poser 8 after you do the Vista update...I'm not sure.  You may be able to check it first and if it's doesn't do the search feature....uninstall Poser 8, turn off UAC and reinstall.

I have to admit the Poser 8 install is the sloppiest piece of development I've seen in a long time.  Love the application but the install is crap.

Allan