EQw and EQ crash at login

[padwin]

Symptoms: I get kicked back to desktop directly after trying to connect after logging in my username and password.
Background: I have directx 8.1 (always used to work fine, I doubt that's it. Please don't make me get 9 unless you're pretty sure that's it). Yesterday I installed EQ trilogy, then Luclin, then patched up-to date on EQ patcher. I then installed the EQhost.txt file and got the newest EQw from EQwindows.com and installed that in a seperate folder from my EQ install folder as per instructions. I do have a personal firewall, but I've allowed all traffic to and from Everquest. I'll check my firewall setup by disabling it for a moment. I'll post the outcome of that. Thanks in advance. Geez, to think, I actually used to run my own EQemu sever, now I can't even connect to others.