you need the 64 bit version of:
Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package (x86)
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=9b2da534-3e03-4391-8a4d-074b9f2bc1bf&displayLang=en
There's also a 64 bit version for 64 bit operating systems.
I had the same problem and installed the 32 bit package above, and it fixed the problem. I think the version 5.3 of PHP does not include some developmental files which are included in the redistributable package above.
I posted in this thread b/c it comes up when I google the error message I was getting.