Many Visio users who are trying to search for Shapes features in Visio 2003 or 2007 have been getting the above error message.
The reality is that the online search portion of Search for Shapes feature is being discontinued and the servers are being shut down. Users of Visio 2002 and later versions will only be able to search for shapes locally. The above dialog appears to be a side effect of the attempt to contact those servers.
In order to prevent the dialog, you will want to disable the attempt to search the Internet shapes in Visio 2003 / 2007. This issue doesn't impact Visio 2010, as it only searches locally.
To disable the Internet search option, follow these steps:
* Select the Tools menu, then choose Options, then select the Shape Search tab
* Expand the Search Locations
* Uncheck the box for "The Internet" location
* Click OK to save the options
