TheBitterness: In any event, is it purely hex-editing that fixes the issue and, if that is the case, is such a thing easy for people who are new to such a thing?
In that case, I think replacing the corrupt file in the save folder with one from the most recent working save should be fine (the relevant it contains information about the save itself, so using one from a save at a different point in the game shouldn't cause any problems, just show the wrong timestamp, etc in the load window).
It is a pretty simple hex edit, though, not much more complicated than exiting a configuration file to change a setting or enable something not exposed in the game's options. Basically you just need a specific type of editor to make the changes.
If you are a little technically inclined and at least know what the the hex system is compared to the decimal system of counting (using 0-9 and A-F), then hex editing isn't that hard. There are some procedures (like restoring a dead NPC) that you would probably need to read through a couple times, but once you are familiar with them, they are relatively easy.
Have you ever used the registry editor in Windows? Would you try it if it could enable a handy feature or disable something you found annoying? Hex editing isn't much more complicated than that, and you wouldn't have the issue of possibly messing up your system, just specific files that are easy to backup and restore.
FWIW, I played through half the game in the original unpatched release, and only ran into a couple issues, one minor bug addressed by a hotfix (which isn't an issue in the download version) and another fixed by reverting to a save made a couple minutes earlier (don't recall seeing it reported for the download version; it was relatively rare with the disk version).
In general, periodic saves are can help if you do run into any problems. I made named saves before using stairs or entering new buildings or caves, before starting or ending quests, before though fights or after finding good loot, etc, and used quicksaves while exploring and clearing areas of opponents.