Memory problem solved:
Windows 7 64bit

This patch works for me perfect! Thanks for the heads up.
Video and framerate problems are gone so far!

I did have the memory problem at first though!
Solved this by making sure the GOG installation is in a map without spaces. (example c:\goggames\privateer2\ and not c:\gog games\ privateer 2 - the darkening\

Hope this works for others too!

What do you mean with strange? My only problem still is some few "creaks" which get more over time during gaming.

It seems this "solution" is far away from being gold but I'm glad it worked for few people. I hope we will hear from GOG and that they are able to fix our problems in any way (DOS version without slowdowns or Win95 version that works for most people without sound and memory issues.

I doubt GoG could fix it through dosbox it's an issue wih how dosbox emulates timing things and the way game times things. It's not a perfect emulation of old 486 and early pentiums the game was made for.

Until dosbox developers somehow improve timings that directions probably a dead end.

Patching the windows version is probably the most likely direction. Offers better flexibility right now. Especially in way the games acess the system clocks and memory.

Even back in the day the windows version was the better option.

Even WC 1 has some really nasty timing issues in the dosbox. I found patched Kilrathi Saga version works slightly better.

Privateer 1 on the other hand seems fairly optimized and works pretty well in dosbox.

Like it's playing twice at the same time, with a slight delay, only on planet scenes like in Joe's bar. You could also say it's sounds like it's slightly slowed down maybe, or like there's a reverb effect added. No creaking or crackling whatsoever though.

Would any of the DOS audio settings affect the Windows version? They are set as they were by default though, and it's the digital audio, not the midi music, which is fine after setting W98 compatibility for DARK.EXE.

That's weird. I don't recall anything like that when I was testing it out.

Did you install the sound patch from my other topic? That might make a difference.

That patch will also fix space audio as well, without having to fiddle with the 'compatibilities' as far as I know..

Thanks for pointing that out. That did enable spaceflight midi without the need for compatibility settings, it did not fix planetside audio though unfortunately.

Have you checked all your sound card settings?

Well, I have tried all settings that I could imagine have something to do with this. My guess would be that it is either somehow CPU speed related, or maybe something specific for my soundcard? Which is a Creative X-fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro by the way.

It's not a major issue so I'll leave it for now, but I'll leave this here in case someone notices the same problem or knows a fix.

Finally got win95 patch to work, thx to Knetterkak helpfull tips.

But i'm not sure if fmv's are any better than in Dos Version, since i still see small horizontal bars while watching video's, anyone else has these ?

Yep, these evenly spaced black lines are normal, it's just how they managed to get video performance up and size down in those days.

edit: some people, including myself, had these black lines unevenly spaced and sized with the default DOSBox settings.

The framerate I get is the same as if I was approaching a planet in the DoS version. Only now the games entire framerate is like that. In other words I am getting maybe between 5-10 fps when flying in space. Everything else about the windows version works fine though. I'm wondering if this might be a windows 8 thing. I'm running a 64bit windows 8 and have tried all the various compatibility settings and running as the admin. Still get poor performance in space.

If you do want to install in a folder or subfolder with spaces you could try what I did:

1. Install (from patched version) to C:\DARK.
2. Move the DARK folder to wherever you want it (in my case D:\Program Files (x86)\DARK.
3. (Optional, to remove the duplicate folders*) Copy the contents of the source folder you installed from to this folder (don't overwrite files).
4. Edit DARK.CFG in your target folder and use DOS names for the install and cd paths (first two lines), in my case D:\PROGRA~1\DARK.
5. Update the shortcut paths in Start Menu/Origin Systems.
6. (Optional, to keep the uninstall working) Update the path in the following registry key (W7/x64 example) HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\Privateer 2 - The Darkening

Note that the installer itself does not allow installation into subfolders, so I am not sure if this causes problem later on, but it appears to work fine for me so far.

*) I also cleaned out all unnecessary leftover DOS and GOG files, but this is of course optional. Screenshot of minimal required files attached.

Sndrv the problems you are having with sound is weird. I don't get that issue at all. All I have is laptop sound card and a software based sound blaster.
Well, that and the videos were woefully low res to begin with in many of these FMV games, and scanlines hid the 'artifacting' and pixelated graphics. They looked better on a traditional CRT monitory though.

Sometimes i'm getting random keyboard and mouse problems while playing using Xbox360 Controller.

For example at navigation screen mouse freezes complety and i can't use it anymore. And after i quit game and it goes back to loading screen, keyboard keys got messes up, pressing ESC even started new game.

Knetterkak tip worked for me too. Thx a lot.
I just copied the GOG installation in a new folder without spaces (here c:\privateer2) and changed the dark.cfg in the new C:\dark folder accordingly.
And then it worked.