I put the full install on a zip (it was an old Vista computer that was starting to get really screwy). The total size was about 287mg. Any way we can compare files? The more I think about it, the more I think the screwyness of the computer had something to do with it. Like I said, the EXE was missing even though I had previously installed the patch to that folder. For reference, that computer sometimes would refuse to connect to the wired network at times and the only way to fix it was to restart it.

I would be very interested to know from whom CD Access has permission to sell the game though. I'll be contacting them.
Edit: Crap, just realized that they may not be so keen on letting a way for someone like say GOG selling unlimited copies.

The total size under Properties on my Windows XP gives these numbers:
Size: 374 MB (392,976,989 bytes)
Size on disk: 375 MB (393,777,152 bytes)

Here's the folders and their sizes at a quick glance:
clut 592 KB
common 2.16 MB
episode0 28.6 MB
episode1 36.1 MB
episode2 15.2 MB
hero 1.24 MB
mouse 14.6 KB
sample 287 MB
SAVE 0

All the other files are the same size, from the earlier pic.

And if you want, check out CD Access for some other oldies that aren't on GOG yet, you may be surprised at some of the gems they still have in stock.

Yeah the files check out to the same size. Do you have an ATI card? I have Nvidia, maybe that's part of the problem.

This website looks great, now if only I could figure out how to do bookmarks on this moronic new version of Firefox I would add it straight away.

Yeah, it's got an ATI card, that could be an issue too.

I guess my next step is to test it out on a backup computer to see if video card is the issue. One day I'll figure out how to make a VirtualPC.

I just tried on another Windows 8 machine with Intel HD integrated graphics and the game runs fine there too. If you've got an Nvidia control panel, you can try fiddling with some of the settings there for running Hexplore.

As an update my Windows 8.1 Netbook just ran the game perfectly with sound and no slowdowns. It's ASUS and I'm not sure what card the onboard video is, but I would be willing to bet that it's not Nvidia.

Thanks for the tips holmes! Hopefully the game comes to GOG, but until then I have something else to keep me occupied in between cram sessions.

I fixed the Hexplore version quite a while ago:

drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lyTR10bRuOTjBNU2JJdktfQWM/view?usp=sharing
drive.google.com/file/d/0B2lyTR10bRuOQ2xKRU8tWWZBUHM/view?usp=sharing

basically it just involves replacing 6 bytes in each file with "90" (assembly for No Operation) so that it does no longer divide by zero and crash. I played through the entire game with this fix without any problems.

Also taskkill Explorer.exe while you're playing so you don't get issues with the colors.

Oh nice! Thanks for the update.

I don't get why Hexplore works perfectly on my netbook, but for now that thing is sacred property to remain untouched by the ravages of time.

You are the man! Works like a charm. Tried 10 hours to get the game working and this was the only solution that fixed the menu crashing. Tested with Win 7 Pro 64bit.

Sir, you really are a true hero. Thank you so much for such generosity !!! I tried to play this (great but terribly designed - for modern PC) game since at least 10 years. Deeply loved it in my sweet childhood... You made my day ! No, my month ! :D God bless you !

A fistful of thanks to you. Currently having a blast replaying my old copy.