waltc: OK, on any other day I would probably have figured that out...;) Make sure you've installed the latest DX9.0c runtime from Microsoft--June 2010, I believe. Then make sure you are running the latest version of nGlide--should be 1.03. If it's still no go, make sure you are not installing to c:\program files (x86) but to anywhere else. C:\ games\ would be fine if you have only a C:\ drive.
http://www.zeus-software.com/downloads/nglide FundThmCalculus: I have actually found that the Zackensack wrapper works with much better performance on my Surface Pro (Win 8 x64 by the way), Just an alternative to try if nGlide is really slow. Also, make sure that you have a CD/DVD drive in your computer, King's Quest VIII will not run without one. You don't need to have anything in the drive, just have Windows Explorer say there is an optical disk drive in the system.
Yea, Zeck's is fine, too. I mentioned nGlide 1.03 because it had been recently updated to the 1.03 version which works fine, too (unlike the 1.02 version of nGlide which, I believe, Gog ships with the game.) The optical drive problem hasn't been a problem for me, for some reason (older software can act quirky with newer hardware.)