There is a configuration file edit to skip the intro videos (see
here).
At least with the latest English disk version of the game, this will also eliminate the need for the Play CD, except for a couple cases: the blessing ceremony (after hitting the gong late in the game) and at the end of the game. These are the same limitations as with the no-CD hack.
The version number is shown in the bottom right corner of the main menu (latest is 1.0034A for the English localization, otherwise you may need the
patch). The DVD version has already been updated, while CD versions may or may not be, depending on when they were produced.
Do you know anyone who has the game (or you can convince to buy it) so you can borrow it and copy the Play CD / DVD? IIRC The English Play CD will work fine to start the German version of the game, and vise versa.
If you would like support for higher (and widescreen) resolutions you may want to consider buying the download version. Good Old Games currently has DD (and BD) on sale for US$3 (didn't check Impulse). Other than a couple bug fixes and some changes to skills (see
here), there isn't much difference with the download version, though, and the saves from the disk version may not work properly in the download version (some people reported a crash loading disk version saves, or the saves loaded fine, but they were unable to re-save after that).
If you zip (etc) the entire Divine Divinity folder you will be able to 're-install' the game just by unzipping the archive.
You would not need to include the saves in the savegames folder (each save is a separate subfolder in the '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\savegames' folder). Under Vista/7, depending on how the user accounts are set up, if you install the game to the default Program Files path, Windows can create separate savegame folders for each user, and then map that folder to the game's savegame folder (so it will just see the saves for the relevant user).
C:\Users\ %account name% \AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Divine Divinity\Run\savegames
The contents of the '
..\Divine Divinity\Run\Dynamic' folder can also be deleted before backing up the game, if applicable (this folder can be created in the user path in Vista/7).
This folder is used as a cache for the game. Files are created / copied there from the save game folder when you load, and written / copied from that folder when you save a game. The files will be re-created as required the next time you start Divinity.