Was just running through posts and noticed allot of the same complaints.
First thing is try to update your video drivers.
Remember that 16 bit applications are gone now. no more running allot of
older 16 bit games.
I have gotten allot of games to work by choosing to install as admin, then I
run the game as admin, seems to get the game installed that way.
I have set properties to allot of older stuff to run as win98 compatible
and all seems fine then.
Plus, remember that if you have user account control turned on, I noticed
that stopped me setting video settings in a game, I shut it down and have no
issues now.