It crashes alot for me as well. Generally, I restart the computer (not just EQ), as soon as I'm logged into EQ, I move to a low population / low traffic zone (Guild Hall in my case). Face a wall, so I won't get any EQ graphic changes while it's loading, then load LoN.
Rarely has failed me doing it this way ('cept when I first tried it in GL, with tons of spam and light sources changing my screen).
Hope this helps.
Yther Ore.