I apologize for "latching" onto your thread, since I don't have a solution, but I do have a similar problem.

I left LimeWire running today, but "Disconnected" when I left the house for several hours because I thought my firewall (ZoneAlarm) would kick in. When I came back home, and went to reconnect, I was surprised my Monitor screen showed a few new uploads. The red "Disconnect" light was still lit as I had left it, and more wierd, my firewall hadn't kicked in after the ten minute "no activity" setting I have it set at. I'm assuming continuous searches and passes had continued for the four hours I was gone, as it was the only App open.

It's no big deal -- I'm glad members found what they wanted -- but I'd have never given a thought to rebooting (and possibly dumping uploaders) since I thought I was disconnected.

Hope we get some answers to your post!