Don't use the XP firewall & PC-Cillin firewalls together. 2 firewalls won't protect you more, they'll conflict. Turn off the XP firewall & configure PC-Cillin to allow LW.
PortForward.com - Free Help Setting up Your Router or Firewall

Try this version of Java. Use the JRE offline installer & remove your current Java version before you install this one.
Archive: Download Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Update 11

If you're still having search problems after that, try the advice here: Problems with the search

And if that's no help, delete LW's preferences folder when LW's properly closed. See point 3 here & also point 2 if you've used older versions of LW in the past (there could be a folder in either location).
Fixes for LimeWire
This will kill all of your settings within options, you'll have to go back through afterwards & reset things.

To get rid of your firewall icon, try port forwarding for your router. The instructions are here.
Port Forwarding for the Netgear WPN824v2
Don't forget the step of setting up a static IP address first. LW's listening port, port in the 'manual port forward' box & port forwarded through a router must all be the same number