There are many fixes for that particular issue, some are really easy to do.

In Nvidia's graphics card settings, make sure you have it set all the way to performance mode and not quality as some features it adds globally such as Anti-Aliasing can cause hell with older games. Also make sure you have them all set to run as administrator on the compatibility tab and if that doesn't work try disabling desktop composition.

Also how long have you had the laptop, have you cleaned it out or overclocked it & do you get problems with more modern games?

Edit: Also nevermind the updating your graphics card drivers, have you tried an older driver?

This might sound stupid but did you try to run games in Win XP compatibility mode?

Graphic cards tend to be the main culprit for compatibility issues in post Windows XP games (well, that and multi-core for multi-threaded games that got developped on single-core machines, but GOG seems to taken care of the settings for that, because it never game me any problems).

It's the black sheep of PC gaming.

They all want to outdo each other and in the process, backward compatibility or standardization goes out the Window.

One of my friends had all sorts of troubles playing older games with his cutting edge crossfire.

The graphic card on my laptop is pretty non-descript, low quality and runs off system memory.

Nothing too cowboyish.

It won't perform well on the latest titles, but it doesn't give me compatibility head aches with older games.

Also there are lots optimizations for ATI/Nvidia (mostly Nvidia though) that results in sh***y performance with the other one.
Also switching from 4:3 to 16:9 left we with some mayor headaches. For example i can't get 1600x1200 resolution from older games as my monitor is 1920x1080 and doesn't support *x1200.

And if GFX would be the only problem...
With x64 builds Windows kicked out 16-bit compatibility layer. No more Worms for me unless I boot into 2nd OS or use my old computer.
And the moment I think Win compatibility is nice compared to OSX....

Tell me of this pain in the ass. It's been quite painless in those parts for the last 25 years here. Might this be a case of YMMW? :P

I actually have very few problems compared to most people but it's STILL a pain in the ass. Anyone who argues PC gaming isn't a hassle is sipping the whiskey IMO.

I'm almost inclined call it a feature, but then, I'm more a geek than a gamer and enjoy solving problems, to the point of sometimes being disappointed when stuff just works.

I may have missed it... does your laptop include nVidia Optimus to allow use of either the nVidia or Intel GPU? May want to try setting those last couple titles to use the Intel unit.

What's the screen resolution - wide screen?

If so then try switching the desktop to a non-wide screen resolution before starting the games.

If that solves it then you can probably fix it in the DOSBox configuration (if the games are DOSBox based) so you don't need to change the desktop screen resolution beforehand.

When it comes to newer titles I almost never have issues, however there are a number of older titles that are a huge hassle to get working. I personally don't mind troubleshooting and there is usually always a way to get a game working. Not everyone will probably be as eager to sit there and fix their game though.

It's just something you have to be ready for when gaming on a PC. Especially with older games.

P.S. Someone also mentioned turning some of the graphics card features down a notch. I second that and would add settings things to "Application Controlled" - or whatever the equivalent for your card/driver is for everything can help.

Go grab Ubuntu, install it and WINE, and then install the games? They all seem to run just dandy under WINE. :P

Seriously though, are you getting any error when launching the games that might be able to help us? Also, and this is the Linux user in me talking, can you open a terminal and launch the game that way, so we might get some information spit out in the console afterwards that might explain what's going on?

On a general note about PC gaming: I've had far fewer problems with GOG for older games than before I found GOG. Fallout 2 gave me no end of problems until I got the GOG version.

With GOG my messing around has been more in the nature of squeezing the best out of the games than actually just getting the buggers to run

It isn't. And I don't drink whiskey. :p