I've decided to give IWD a run through but I'm not sure if I should add mods or not. So, I decided to come here and ask you good folks for suggestions. So....what do all of you have to say?

There are 3 versions. Which one?

Sorry.....forgot there were multiple versions. IWD Complete the vanilla version.

Make sure that IDMain.exe has compatibility mode set to Windows XP. Also ensure you have enabled DirectPlay if using Windows 10.

As for which mods to use, that's subjective. I will only recommend these:
IWD Fixpack
IWD NPCs

Whatever you do, stay away from Auril's Bane. It changes EVERYTHING about the game and will screw with almost every other mod.

For a first time experience I recommend playing without any mods at all, the game is fun without them.

Windows is set to XP and DirectPlay are both enabled so that shouldn't be a problem. Should there still be a delay after clicking the launch icon before IWD Complete starts to play?

I'll check those two out. I'm not looking to change IWD. Just enhance it a bit. Thanks for the suggestion. I have played IWD many years ago when it first came. So it's not like this is my first play through.
Problem. Can't get fixpack because site seems to be having problems. Any other site where I can get fixpack from?

Problem. Can't get fixpack because site seems to be having problems. Any other site where I can get fixpack from?

Try running it directly and not through Galaxy. Also, turn off the Galaxy overlay.

You can get IWD Fixpack from Github.

Do you recommend the wide screen mod?

Okay, call me dumb but I can't figure out how to download file from the link you provided. Could you please explain? One other thing. I'm not using Galaxy so that can't be the problem.

Directly on the linked page there is a green button which says 'Clone or download'. Click on that and a small window opens underneath it with a choice of download options. I chose the 'Download ZIP' option and away if goes. Hope this helps.

Yep, that did it! Thanks!

Great :)

No, absolutely not. It works, but any resolution above 1024x768, which you can get without it, is awful because things don't scale, and everything looks really tiny. But worse(?) than that is if you decide you don't like it, or want to uninstall it for some reason, you have to start a new game afterwards because it physically alters assets that make saved games useless in any other resolution.