DraconicDak: It worked once, but after that, opening the same directory, or a new directory, resulted in the same crashes as before. And then that one save that did work was corrupted.
I've already contacted support with my DxDiag. See what comes from it...

sethsez: Okay, so I fixed the issue by moving everything to another folder, and then editing mohawk.w32 to change fEnableAudioProxy=true to fEnableAudioProxy=false. Neither one worked individually, but combined it's now functioning properly.
It'd still be nice to have a copy that just works out of the box (so to speak) though.

jam-loid: I have both the old CD version of Riven and the 10th anniversary DVD version. I had originally played the CD version on an older Windows 98 machine years ago. Then, I thought it might be nice to revisit the game once again on my current machine, which runs Windows XP Home Edition version 2002, service pack 2. I found that I never could get the DVD version to even load, and the old CD version would load and play, but crashed upon save.
I participated on one of the discussion boards on the UBIsoft site, tried unsuccessfully most of the same techniques as have been suggested ion that forum, and ultimately, the most successful sounding solution was to install Virtual PC 2007 and then to install a version of Windows 98 on top of that to run Riven. To do that you need a copy of Windows 98, which I do not seem to have any more. While I could buy one somewhere, at this point I admit that it seemed a bit much and tabled the idea, only to return to it again today. It was then that I saw on the Cyan site that Gog.com now had Riven, and it was listed as compatible with XP, Vista, and such. Since it was just $5.99, I just about bought it, but thought to check the forums first. The problems that users are experiencing here sound identical to those I already have with my current versions, as do the proposed solutions.
What I want is a Riven download that is compatible with Windows XP without having to mess around and find it still will not work. Do any other contributors feel that the current Gog.com Riven download is different enough from the CD or DVD versions that is it reasonable to expect it to work where the other media would not? Any word on a fix from Gog.com?

Stone500: I had a much easier fix for myself in Vista x64. Just make Riven run in Windows XP compat. mode.

snograt: Bizarrly, that's the only way I could get saves working for me, too - on Windows 7 x64.
Remains to be seen whether XP compatibility mode impacts on any other areas of the game. If it does, I'll report back ^_^
(Edit) nope - although the file handling capabilities are re-enabled when using a more recent compatibility mode, it's back to the old problems including no animations - making the game unplayable.
I don't know if something's screwy, but when I check the property of ANY folder on my hard drives, they ALL come up as read only, which is a nonsense. I still don't see what bearing this read only-ness has on game saving, as using "save as" should bypass that problem.
It's a puzzle worthy of Myst itself :(

Didi1: Got a fix from GOG. I had to update my graphic card driver and install the latest directx9. Well that did not work either! But I finally got it. As said before from others, I changed the Riven file in program files and renamed it Riven! And it saved the game. Clicking on the saved game will not open it. Open the riven exe, click on top left then file then open your saved game. Hope this will help others with this problem.

snograt: It's a puzzle worthy of Myst itself :(

uhada: Renaming the folder worked for me until restarting, then it crashes again. What worked for me was to first rename it to get one time access, save the game and then use the save-file to open the game. And no, it doesn't open itself, because it doesn't know what program to open in, and it's your job to tell it. When it asks for a program, just browse [Program Files\GOG.com\Riven\Riven.exe], and it opens in Riven. Now don't "save as" again, that will make it crash, but just ctrl+s, and it will save to your existing file like a text file and such ..
Add: If the game just don't start, then run it in Win95 mode (right click > Settings > Compatibility)
You're so right! The first puzzle in the game is found outside the game ^^
But I really think I've solved it - if you haven't tried it already, you should really read my post.

Didi1: I did save as a lot of times and did not crash. Riven worked perfectly. I now have problems with Myst itself... I agree as well i've been consuming more time figuring out how to make the game work than playing! Worth every penny!

uhada: Hm it looks like, it's different from computer to computer, what works and doesn't work. I have also had problems with Myst, but Real Myst worked perfectly for me. If it's not what you already got, I can highly recommend RM - It's really well made and true to the original too! It has just been added to gog :]