New to the boards and some help needed

[Drizzt]

Hi! It has been 2 years since I last installed/played this game and now I am feeling the burning need to play it again. This time, however, I plan to install it on my laptop. Here are the specs:
2gb RAM
Pentium Dual Core T2390 (1.8g)
160 GB (5400 rpm) HDD
X3100 integrated graphics
Windows XP SP3

Due to its modest specs and IGP, FFVII would be a good game for it. I just intend to run the basic game (full install, movies from HDD, 1.02 patch, Chocobo patch) without the additional stuff (YAMP, SBLive patch, NPC Project patch, Advent Children avatars, etc). Here are my questions:

1. When do I install the laptop patch? After everything else?

2. Since I have an Integrated, non NVIDIA card, will installing RIVATuner be necessary?

3. I bypass the DX5 stuff during my installs. Would it be fine if I also bypassed the Yamaha Synthesizer as well? (i won't be using the patch for high-quality FFVII music, though)

4. I have K-lite 4.1.7 installed on this PC and I am a regular updater. Since I don't want to compromise the whole laptop's operation by installing old codecs/downgrades for a single game, what is the best way to go about/around this thing? 
   
5. Being a laptop, I don't wish to subject the internal DVD drive to constant wear and tear. Now, with mixed feelings for no-CD patches (and I am wary of running a years-old DOS file on it anyway), is there a way to run the data from my HDD and bypass disc usage and disc swtiching altogether (i.e. editing the reg file, etc)? This would preserve not just my DVD drive but my CDs as well.

6. Is there anything else I should be aware of? Any tips or further advice?

Oh yeah, I took pictures of my game in case proof is needed:
http://img366.imageshack.us/img366/8853/702de2.jpg
http://img387.imageshack.us/img387/4770/701mp9.jpg

I can take more upon request.

Thanks!

[Landarma]

2. nVIDIA Tuner may not be necessary.  Use official 1.02 patch, and check nVIDIA TNT in configuration. 
3. Bypass SYXG-70, too.  It won't work with WinXP.  Instead, there's SYXG-50 4.x WDM version which is compatible with WinXP(not sure with SP3).
5. You can use virtual ODD device such as Daemon tools(make your disc image and use them), but also copy all movies to game directory, then edit registry.  Here's how to install FF7 to memory card or USB thumb drive and make it 'portable'.

[Drizzt]

2. Thanks!

3. Can I do without the whole Yamaha thing altogether?

5. I'm not an avid ISO user. I'd rather pick a no-cd patch or just do a reg tweak. Hmm, is there a way to modify that process from the link you sent me so that it runs from the HDD (specified folder) instead of a memory card?

[Landarma]

2. Thanks!

3. Can I do without the whole Yamaha thing altogether?

5. I'm not an avid ISO user. I'd rather pick a no-cd patch or just do a reg tweak. Hmm, is there a way to modify that process from the link you sent me so that it runs from the HDD (specified folder) instead of a memory card?

3. Remember, if your midi device is not a good thing, what you hear will be poor quality midi sound(and people will say 'midi sucks blahblah').  You can live without Yamaha softsynth, but it wiil make midi sound better, if you don't want to deal with FF7Music.

5. Same process, instead your game will be in your HDD. 

[Drizzt]

3. Ok, just d/l'ed and installed the 4.12 version of the SYXG-50

5. So what you are saying is that basically the reg file searches for the ffvii files (regardless of where they are installed) instead of being programmed to run from a removable directory? Then there is no need to rename directory files and reg entries of the guide to match the HDD target folder?

[Cloudster]

You're right. You don't have to "tailor" any .reg file from my guide. Just copy it into notepad unedited. By "current directory", I mean the "current directory" relative to the executable (in this case ff7.exe). So, ".\Data" and ".\Movies" will tell ff7 to look in the data and movies directory *relative* to itself.

For example, FF7.exe in C:\Games\FF7\ff7.exe, the app will look in C:\Games\FF7\data and C:\Games\FF7\movies
FF7.exe in G:\Kickass\FFVII\ff7.exe, the app will look in G:\Kickass\FFVII\data and G:\Kickass\FFVII\movies

In a nutshell: Once you've imported that .reg on a certain computer, you can move the PortableFF7 folder anywhere, to another drive, to thumbdrive, etc, it'll still work, but ONLY ON THAT PC. If you move it to another PC, you'll have to import the .reg and register tm20dec.ax again. But, savegames and other config files stay in the PortableFF7 root dir.

Hope it's not so "cloudy" for you now, heh