Am having a similar problem. Also have XP, and have Norton Anti-Virus and Norton Personal Firewall installed. Am also an amateur, but as far as I can figure, if it was a problem with the firewall, would not be able to connect in the first place. There doesn't appear to be any pattern, as sometimes I can be downloading for a couple of hours before it automatically disconnects. Am wondering if it has anything to do with idle time as the search switches from one user to another. Any opinions on this? Also, any clues as to how this type of information can be accessed, and how rules or options relating to this can be changed?