Whenever I scroll the map the game crashes as soon as it hits the edge of the map. This pretty much makes the game unplayable. Has anyone else had this problem, or have any ideas for a work around? I have tried different screen resolutions, updated drivers, etc.

It's a very generic "The application has crashed" error without any kind of descriptive error message that I can find.

I'm running on Windows 7 x64, GForce 860 12gb ram, WAY more computer than this game should require.

This is the extent of the error message:
Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: Space Colony.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.0
Application Timestamp: 506d96a8
Fault Module Name: Space Colony.exe
Fault Module Version: 0.0.0.0
Fault Module Timestamp: 506d96a8
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 0007ff58
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033
Additional Information 1: 0a9e
Additional Information 2: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789
Additional Information 3: 0a9e
Additional Information 4: 0a9e372d3b4ad19135b953a78882e789

Attempting to debug via Visual Studio after the crash just shows that there was an "Access Exception"

Let me take a wild guess: Installed in Program Files and/or UAC enabled? UAC is typically the biggest factor when it comes to older games going wonky. As long as it's installed outside of the Program Files folders and UAC is disabled (or you run the game in administrator mode) you shouldn't run into problems.

You could also try shutting down Chrome (if you use it) or any anti-virus program you're running as those also have a tendency for somehow interfering with some older games.

Turning UAC off is one of the first things I do after installing windows. The game is installed on my D drive, outside of the program files directory. I guess the game might have a problem with the installation location, so I will uninstall and re install it to installer's default location for testing.
Installing to the default location makes no difference. Not running Chrome at the same time makes no difference.

WOOHOO! Found a work around!
Virtual Box for the win. It runs perfectly in Virtual Box running a windows XP guest.