In Win8.1, I have to run compatibility mode for something far lower. If I run anything higher than WinXP, I can't ESC to stop the cutscreen videos.

When I hit F4 to go into window mode, the system not only crashes but won't restart, and I have to uninstall/reinstall to get it to work again. (Just for good measure, I reinstall greyface2.0 as well.) Anything I can do to get the window mode to work again?

Did you try setting the desktop to 16-bit colors? For me at least, F4 won't work at all at 32 (you'll get an in-game message to set it to 16-bit). I don't use Greyface though, so not sure how that changes it.

I don't seem to be able to do that in Win8.1. All I have available for all my monitors is 32-bit. Google didn't help in this regard ... I got to the "List All Modes" for each of my monitors, but only 32-bit is available.

Now, running compatibility mode for WinXP (SP3), I have it set to reduced color mode 16-bit (8-bit is also available). Should I try running in 640-x480 screen resolution, too?

Edit again: I went to game properties & tried various compatiblity modes with reduced color mode 16-bit, with and without 640x480 resolution, and F4 started working ... however it only shows the upper left corner of the screen. Any ideas (as I continue to Google)?