Have you tried Direct2Drive's support, or checked for a FAQ or forum there? You could also try emailing support@larian.com.
I am not familiar with D2D's return policy, but I'd assume you'd have to start with a support request to justify a refund. The Dragon Knight Saga, a remastered version of D2:ED with the add-on included, will be released in a couple weeks. If you can not get the game running and can not get a refund, a store credit could work.


They aren't the same issue, but did you try going through the topics below?

Never ending loading screen. 100% of the time.

Crash on 'new game' load screen.


Can you play the intro video in WMP?
Try renaming the file to get the game to skip it, assuming it reaches that point.

Theory on my CTD at the Start New Game Load Screen


Ffdshow is a set of DirectShow video codecs, which can either be install alone, or come bundled with a media player or video editing application.