I've downloaded Populous II this evening but the game is not working. It starst the intro and it's ok, but then I can't go to the start screen. The intro movie runs again and if I push something on the keyboard the game crashes and I'm back on the pc's desktop. What must I do to play the game?

I was having the exact same problem.

Trying a solution from another thread, find the Graphics Mode Setup program in the Start Menu folder and change the settings. I set mine to Direct3d and it seems to be working now.

Thank you. Now it started but it seems to have some troubles with my mouse which isn't responding...

when i try to change the graphic setup, message appears to tell me that this game is not installed. a friend of mine recommended gog.com and pop2 was the first game i tried out. i´m really pissed.

First off, if you are having problems running the game you should contact GOG support.

Secondly, many of the users in the GOG forums are very helpful and we do work as a community to try to help people out, but we can only do so if we know the full details of the issue. So:
What are the specs of the machine you are using?
What's the OS and is it 32-bit or 64-bit?
Where have you installed the game to?
Have you tried any of the usual fixes such as compatibility modes, running as administrator, turning off visual themes, etc.
Have you tried using the .conf file (as it is a DOSBox game) instead of the graphics setup program?

I had the exact same issue.

I moved the game from its default install directory C:\Program Files (x86)\gog.com
to
c:\games\

Redirected the shortcut and it worked fine

gl

Don't know why but it didn't work, I'll try to install it again...

Uninstall it fully, then re-install outside of Program Files. You are on Win7 so Program Files is a protected folder (unless you disable DEP/UAC or elevate your privileges). I install games into C:\Games. Try this first.

It works! Thanks a lot @ll