I have experience modifying .ini files (for games) so I will make a backup of the poser.ini prior to deleting it and see if this can fix the problem. 

I don't know if this would have any affect but I test many of my models in poser without using a conventional runtime structure -- i.e., I import my mesh and textures from my WIP folders to check out how they look when rendered in poser.  Sometimes I tweak the mesh or textures in external programs and change the files and then store these variations in different folders while having Poser 'idle' in the background.  When I am happy I move everything into a conventional poser runtime setup -- i.e. geometry folder, libraries folders and texture folders.  Could I be screwing up/confusing poser file references?