So, I tried C:\, D:\ ... \IWD, \GOG Games\Icewind Dale
Various install paths just in case.
Reinstalled various versions of DirectX
Tested with and without DEP settings
Tested with and without various compatability modes
Tested through and outside of GOG Galaxy
I've allowed it through my firewall

No matter what I do, it won't launch. I'll get the "yes launch this as admin?" popup, then immediately a crash message.
The codes in it are-
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: IDMain.exe
Application Version: 1.4.2.0
Application Timestamp: 3b3a582f
Fault Module Name: IDMain.exe
Fault Module Version: 1.4.2.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 3b3a582f
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00549808
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.768.3
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: cf45
Additional Information 2: cf45a9ee042ba6519b699f7a8ec992c9
Additional Information 3: f303
Additional Information 4: f30377981d5b33ae38ad45d64a85e89f


I note this because the *only* result online I could find sharing the codes were from a spanish forum when people were trying to host through TCP/IP. I don't speak spanish so I'm sort of guessing at that being their discussion.

If anyone can help me get this working I'd be very greatful, it's run before on my tower running the same programs and Windows 7 version. So I either overlooked something or it's a hardware problem.

Fixed it! ...Somehow.
In all the installing and reinstalling and resetting in groups I can't narrow it down perfectly.

But some combination of-
reinstalling my most recent driver (I installed last week)
installing OpenAL (I'm not running EE so idk if this makes a difference)
reinstalling DirectX (still had the files)
reinstalling DirectX 9.0c (didn't have this file on hand)
And then rebooting, did it.

DirectX doesn't normally require a reboot but hey, who knows anymore.
Now that it's working I don't want to fiddle with it into breaking again, though if anyone has a similar issue I'll troubleshoot for you personally.

I'm hoping it'll help other Windows 7 users like myself. Maybe even some XP users should crap hit the fan.

Marked yours as solution just to mark the whole issue as "solved"

I just installed and started playing this game on a Windows 10 laptop, instant crash.

Your solution worked. I just renamed the file "ddraw.dll" to "ddraw_dll.old" (just in case I'll need it later) in the installation folder, and it seems to work now.

EDIT: Actually I am talking about Icewind Dale 2 Complete, but this fix works for it.

Yes, the two games share the same engine, so the workaround is the same for both.
I'm happy that you solved your problem: happy gaming!

Ah, then I misunderstood you when you said: I thought you meant that the game used to work on Windows 7 while it won't work anymore by now (and I erroneously assumed you currently were on Windows 10).

Anyway the solution I reported may work on Windows 7 too.

Yeah this also seems to share the same inconvenient engine "feature" like the first IWD, Baldur's Gate 1-2 and probably others sharing the same engine. Just like with those other games, my laptop's CPU usage shot through the roof and the laptop started generating lots of heat, meaning its fan started blowing at full force. I already noticed this with those other games before.

Anyway, for me the fix was the same as before: I used a new Windows Power Plan that lets CPU run only at 20% of the max, that way throttling the CPU usage for the game. Now my laptop runs cool, fan is quiet and the game runs the same as when it tries to steal all CPU cycles it can find.

It is this "feature":

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/100_cpu_usage_modern_computer_whats_up/page1

https://www.gog.com/forum/baldurs_gate_series/baldurs_gate_12_enhanced_editions_also_100_or_50_cpu_usage/page1

The Beamdog remakes ("Enhanced Editions") don't share the same bug, they run nicely on several cores, low CPU usage.