some quick registry comparison showed the these two keys are involved when 'DirectDraw' is turned off from the dxdiag applet (see image). i'm thinking of a batch file or an AHK script that toggles these settings but could anyone could verify this before i inadvertently bork my gfx drivers..
HKLM, SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Direct3D\Drivers, SoftwareOnly
HKLM, SOFTWARE\Microsoft\DirectDraw, EmulationOnly