FeelingShred: I got this fixed with DxWnd, I think it's because it has a built-in option to force the game to run in a single CPU core.
Maybe this will apply to you, but I finally got POD working smoothly in windowed mode, music playback and the original car engine sounds. Using an app called DxWnd. (DirectX/DDraw wrapper)
I uploaded a ZIP with all these fixes combined in a single download link, it's here (game files not included, no pirated game assets here) Simply copy and replace files inside your game directory.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hikcbqe4lmqkng3/POD_Gold__Music_Fix.zip?dl=0 Alternate link for direct download (better in some browsers)
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hikcbqe4lmqkng3/POD_Gold__Music_Fix.zip?dl=1 - - - -
If anyone still have files for PodHacks and other modifications, I would greatly appreciate if you could upload them and I would copy these files to my personal server there. My links will never be removed. In fact, if you're reading this from the future, try this link for the directory with everything on it.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/2z8fiw53o27t27c/AABaY4UaQzef8AlyJei3kj7-a?dl=0 Thank you, worked fine for me! But I still have to exit the game with Alt+F4 to avoid crashing.