PJ64 doesn't respond when trying to use Jabo's 3D8 1.6

Ok, here's my problem: when I load a rom with Jabo's Direct3D8 1.6 plugin, the bottom left corner ofthe PJ64 window says "Emulation started" but the FPS on the opposite side of the window remains at "-.--" and the PJ64 screen stays black. Usually after that it stops responding and I must close PJ64. Then I'll get the "Project64 has encountered a problem and needs to close...." error message.

If I use Jabo's direct3D6 1.5.2, Project64 runs smoothly, but just not at the same quality as it does with Direct3D8 1.6.

Here are some troubleshooting steps I have already taken:

-Uninstalled and reinstalled Project64 1.6 on my PC
-Installed latest BIOS update for my PC
-Installed System Enhancements Disk
-Unistalled and reinstalled the display driver (several times)
-Performed virus scans with Norton Antivirus, Ad-Aware, and Spybot S&D (nothing detected)

And finally here are my system specs:

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.2GHz
512MB RAM
ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP (128MB)

As you suggested, I changed my desktop to 16 bit color. When I switched to Jabo's Direct3D8 1.6, most of the roms I have would only get to the N64 logo screen/whatever screen first appears, then the program would freeze. Thanks for the response though.

I'm going to try a few other things to fix this, but if anyone else has any ideas to fix the problem I'd appreciate it. I'll probbaly be bringing my PC to repair shop within the next week anyway because I've been having an automatic restart issue.