glass works but no games

Quite a few people seem to be having similar problems but it doesn't seem that one of the have quite the same hardware as I do. The results are the same with the standard Windows drivers and the the latest ATI Catalyst drivers available for download. Windows works fine and smoothe with Aero glass enabled however, almost every legacy app I try that uses direct3d results in exactly the same error message. XX.exe has stoped working. No other info is available. Searching through the logs I can't seem to find much there either. I have also tried o use various compatability settings but the results are exactly the same. Once, and only once, did all the games work with glass enabled but it was completely random and stoped working when I rebooted. If I install a Windows XP driver, Aero glass is gone, my ego is dented and the games all work fine. Note that in all driver versions I try, there is no error code in device manager. My system: Standard Acer TravelMate 4101 WLMi with ATI Mobility Radeon x700 64MB (Not Shared)