Dear Jcleaver, I do not use the installer, I get the ZIPs and dump the contents in a directory; this allows me to have different versions of Blender installed (currently 2.49b, 2.55, 2.56a). I do not copy these directories in the usual install paths because Blender does not like (british understatement) Vista security.

Blender comes with its installation of Python (check e.g. the 2.56pythonlib subdirectory inside the distribution zip and the python31.dll in the main directory).

Bye... pester me as much as you want!

GIMP 2.7.4, Inkscape 0.48, Genetica 3.6 Basic, FilterForge 3 Professional, Blender 2.61, SketchUp 8, PoserPro 2012, Vue 10 Infinite, World Machine 2.3, GeoControl 2