There is also a really really really old computer around here somewhere. I was thinking of downloading some old games to a CD for it, but it only has 64MB of RAM or something.
You’re asking for nothing but heartache and frustration by trying to run any game (other than Zork) on any old or underpowered box. Max memory, fast HD, high end video card, plus any other tweaks is the only way to run most any game. Gaming software is known to totally push the limits of any machine— and O/S.
I’d recommend a dedicated box just for games— for a number of reasons. But trying to make any game work on a slow, RAM poor box will never work. You have to realize that the Windoze O/S will take a majority of any RAM and CPU cycles, leaving precious little for any software running on it. You can ge a cheap box today with 2+ Gigs of Ram and a hot CPU and video card that will run games pretty good.
But don’t even think about putting a game on an old, slow box. You’ll hate it. Hate the game. Hate the frustration.