max.exe entry point not found

hello. i recently purchased and installed cycling '74 max/msp v4.5.2 and i got this error. the title reads "max.exe - Entry Point Not Found" and the dialog is "The procedure entry point PifMgr_OpenProperties could not be located in the dynamic link library SHELL32.dll." my only option is to click OK which closes the program before it has a chance to start. i went to the companys support and they assumed it was a problem with my system so i checked by installing on a friends computer and it worked perfectly. i have no idea what could be wrong since both our systems are almost identical (P4 2g, winxp). does anyone know what this means or know how to fix this? thanks for any help.