Hi, I can't run Abe's Oddysee on my netbook with win7 starter.
After install, game would try to change resolution and just stopped working.
Then I downloaded the dd hack and turned off any compatibility: now game seems to start fine but all I get is a blank screen. I can alt+F4 out of it (I get a "Do you really want to quit?" dialogue box) and nothing else.

On a netbook you say? Netbooks often have wacky screen resolutions. It's possible that the game is trying to use a setting that's just not supported on your machine. I don't have Abe's Oddysee; but I do have Stranger's Wrath. Try setting the game to run at the exact same settings as your desktop (SW let's you do this with the launcher.) If you can't change the game's settings before launch, try changing the windows desktop resolution to what the game tries to use. I can't make any promises; but I hope this helps.