32bit_Vista Gaming.. or not

okay, so all of my old games (pre-vista release) work fine, but every "Games for vista" game i have purchased and installed will not run. i have tried clean-install of vista home premium, i have tried re-installing the games, i have tried looking for patches... everything I can think of

every time it is the same thing at the splash screen, "_______.exe has stopped working", windows is checking for a solution blah blah blah. the problem is, its done this for bioshock, Unreal tourney 3, hellgate london.

I am hoping that someone here has encountered the same problems and has a solution

system specs:
Toshiba laptop, pre-installed with vista home premium 32bit
dual core 2.0ghz processors
4gigs ram (i know, i hit the black hole, its recognized at 3.1 gb)
200 gig HDD
intel integrated video card
Windows experience scores:
processor: 4.7,
ram 4.6
graphics 3.2
gaming graphics 3.1
primary hard drive 4.9

if ANYONE has a way that I will be able to actually PLAY the 150 dollars worth of software i have purchased, please let me know.

if i havent posted enough information as well, let me know.

The problem is you don't have a gaming card. newer games require hardware acceleration, which your laptop does not have. so you're stuck with older games.

on the bright side, desktop components have never been cheaper. you can put together a decent gaming rig for about $700 including vista x64. the best graphics card right now is the 8800GT although your games would run ok on a less expensive 8600.

next time get a laptop with gaming graphics!

yes. unfortunately, i cannot use a high quality desktop computer, as I travel quite a bit and can not go to a stationary computer to play games.
you are telling me there is NO way that I can run these games on my laptop? no workaround? no soft-based workaround that would function as a gaming graphics type of thing?
is vista really as terrible as it appears to be? if i install XP onto this laptop, i can almost guarantee that i can get the games to work, as my familys low-end (cheap as can be) 5 yr old XP computer can run them. Microsoft really shot themselves in the foot with this one, didnt they?

I'm pretty sure it has nothing to do with your operating system. The only fix I can think of is to install a mobile graphics card yourself, which is possible with some laptops, though it's pretty arduous. I wouldn't be surprised if there's a semi-decent video card in your family's old computer. It'd be crap by today's standards, but it'd still be a hardware card.

I also want to add that I'm kind of bored of the whole "Vista sux. lol" thing. It's not as good as it could have been, but it's by no means a bad operating system.

your low end computer has a gaming card - which makes all the difference.

actually your laptop has some unused hardware acceleration, but Intel are years behind in developing drivers. I would advise looking for the latest graphics drivers. you might be able to stop the crash, and then run the games in low resolution and low colour and they might work ok. also try installing them in XP compatible mode.

I find vista more responsive and much better looking than xp and installation is a dream. I hate going back to xp or even worse, linux.

Microsoft just reported huge vista profits, but i will admit the OS does have issues.