1. Go to LW's menu bar, Tools -> Options -> Saving & change days to keep incompletes to 9999.
2. Windows Firewall - LimeWire to configure your XP firewall.
3. Oh! I just realised your are an Insight user. See their listing here ISP's known to BLOCK or Filter p2p or specifically Limewire as they don't block users immediately from using LW.
4. As for the freezing, I'm not sure. I've seen similar issues for searching peers for iTunes. Go to Tools -> Options -> iTunes -> Sharing & disable iTunes support. You should set LW to connect manually not automatically. Tools -> Options -> Connections & disable. Let LW settle for a few mins before trying to connect via File menu.