afaik no, it requires dx7, although you may install dx7 on any machine, but it's not sure if direct3D will support your card! Probably you simply won't be able to use Graphics3D, but 2D will work.
Well I'm not sure about these things, but I think both are in Vram, backbuffer and frontbuffer. They are the same, flipping them will only swap some access adresses. In windowed mode it's a bit more complicated since Windows is using some sort of rectangular update system.
Of course, if windows cannot find Vram other than the 640*480 Pixels required by the protected mode, it will try to emulate Vram.
Well I'm not sure about these things, but I think both are in Vram, backbuffer and frontbuffer. They are the same, flipping them will only swap some access adresses. In windowed mode it's a bit more complicated since Windows is using some sort of rectangular update system.
Of course, if windows cannot find Vram other than the 640*480 Pixels required by the protected mode, it will try to emulate Vram.