I got the exact same error at the same point. You hear a "bong" as the green skull moves but it never quite gets to it's final position when the error occurs.
Pinion 5 is actually level 10 of the game. I have to go to the Task Manager and cancel the game to get out of it and when I go back in, I'm at the same level.
I have had this happen twice so it is a consistent problem.
For general reference:
I am running 32 bit Vista Ultimate on a 2.4 GHz processor with 2 GB memory.
Is there a fix for this problem? The game was fixed once with all the complaints about slow running.
I also noted that my scores are not saved in the list of high scores but I'm more after levels than points.
I'll leave the game here for now in the hopes of a fix. I obviously can't go any farther right now!