Quaxo:
I'd fully agree if the games were more modern, but since they are relatively old and also have quite low requirements, I don't think it's the normal issue of a underpowered integrated graphics.
However, that being said, I think the "try reducing quality/res" idea might be worth a shot. For some reason or another the graphics driver is crashing, and the fact that it does so on a relatively old game is somewhat worrisome. Does the laptop work with any other Direct3d/OpenGL utilizing games?
Also, in an interesting coincidence, I had the exact same problem on my older PC with a Nvidia 5500FX- I was able to fix it by updating the game, so if you haven't done so, make sure to install the latest patches (for C&C first decade if that is the product you actually have those games as part of).