iueras: ...Anyone have any ideas?

DeMignon: Maybe a dumb question, as you've already tried a lot, but is the old DirectX 9 properly installed?
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

iueras: ... It installed a series of DLLs. Still the exact same crash, though.

DeMignon: It's good you installed the redist version, as the webinstaller doesn't always work like it should.

Anyway, as it doesn't solve your problem, maybe it's an issue with Data Execution Prevention (DEP).
Try adding the game to the exception list:

- Click the Start button and choose Computer => System Properties => Advanced System Settings
- From the System Properties dialog, select Settings
- Select the Data Execution Prevention tab
- Select Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select
- Use Add and browse to the games folder and add all executable files (.exe files) to the list

iueras: DEP was already set to be on for essential programs and services only, but I went ahead and turned it on for everything and added an exception. Exact same crash, StackHash_ef1a. Is anyone able to run this on Win 7 64 bit? How about on a Radeon 6970? Or with Catalyst 13.12 drivers?

iueras: I can't get the game to start at all. I have tried every combination of DVD fix patch, dxmci, mpeg2.dll, MPEG 2 codec, ac3filter, run as administrator, compatibility modes, run in 640x480, disable themes, and disable desktop composition possible. Every single combination gives me an immediate crash on launch with the faulting module "StackHash_ef1a". I see no video, and hear no music. I have reinstalled the game 3 times in different locations. In no case did I install it to Program Files (x86). DEP is set to the default. Firewall has been tried both on, on with exceptions (inbound and outbound), and off altogether. Antivirus has been tried on, off, and uninstalled.

I am running Windows 7 64 bit on a Phenom 2 955, 8GB RAM, and a Radeon 6970 with 2GB RAM on Catalyst 13.12. All drivers are up to date. I have tried running the game off of my SSD as well as off of a 1TB HDD. I have spent the last 6 hours trying to get this game to launch, trying every combination of parameters possible, unsuccessfully.

Anyone have any ideas?

FlynnArrowstarr: Hi, iueras.

I installed and ran Wing Commander 4 without any problems on my AMD/Radeon setup. In looking up StackHash errors on Google, I found that the issue isn't with any particular application, but that Windows throws the error when it can't determine what module caused the issue. However, my limited research did show that a couple of things can cause the issue - faulty memory modules or driver issues. DEP can prevent the issue from popping up, but several posters to one blog entry I read suggested it didn't work for those on x64 systems (as you've found out).

You may want to run memtest on your system and make sure none of your memory sticks are bad. If those test okay, then you may need to reinstall your system drivers and see if that helps.

Sorry I can't offer a better solution.

Flynn