groze: I highly recommend using the patch, even if you do lose some progress (unless you already had an entire playthrough or two in, in which case maybe forget about the patch), as it does solve many issues these games have. If you want to install The Suffering: Ties That Bind while still having The Suffering installed at the same time, the patch is pretty much mandatory, because of engine overlapping stuff that makes the first game unplayable due to graphics issues (unless you enjoy messing around with the registry, which is the other way to fix it, if you don't want to use the patch).
Other than using the patch, I also run
Process Lasso, a handy tool that optimizes your CPU on the fly, great for older games that have CPU affinity/priority issues (not just The Suffering; Process Lasso also helps immensely with Soul Reaver 2, Blood Omen 2 or even Bastion, all of which have affinity issues). It will still freeze sometimes, but you can put in three or four hours straight without worrying about freezes or crashes to desktop.
Thanks Guys for the help. I managed to finish the campaign Yesterday without the patch. It was annoying but still. I am installing the Second game, "Ties that bound", and will install the patch right away.
Appreciated! thx for the assist.