problems with search on scientific linux

hello everybody,

i have problems with the search module.
i have read many threads about it here on drupal aswell that i need php4.3.3, but i haven't found the solution.

The strange thing is i can search for users and get a result without any problems.
But i get Problems when i search for content the mistake i get is :

warning: Compilation failed: characters with values > 255 are not yet supported in classes at offset 52 in /var/www/html/drupal/modules/search.module on line 258.

warning: Compilation failed: characters with values > 255 are not yet supported in classes at offset 143 in /var/www/html/drupal/modules/search.module on line 266.

my configuration is :
scientific linux == this is like red hat enterprise 3 (sorry, but i can not change to something else)
apache2
mysql3.23.58
php-4.3.2-23.ent (not as module)
drupal4.6 (with webserver_auth module)

i know that i need php4.3.3 or greater, but it doesn't exist for my machine, so i would have to compile it myself.
Because of configs and crons in our network i wouldn't realy like to do this.

so my question is, is there any other way to solve the PROBLEM with search??????
than upgrrading to higher php version ????

i also thought to downgrade my drupal to 4.5, but i do not know what is going on there with the search module, i can not go deeper than 4.5, becausde i need webserver_auth

any idea

thanks

alex..