I do have the same issue. Haven't been able to use the client since I installed 0.8 on windows 7.
I have tried everything I know can be done, from renaming the peer file, deleting everything from appdata except wallet and reinstalling the software and even make a backup of the wallet, delete everything in appdata, reinstall the client and try to open it on an empty wallet. Nothing works. Always the same error message preventing me from starting the software.
Guess I'll have to wait for another version to make it work.
Edit: Also tried to restart the computer after it crashed at every new attempt to make it work.