LW won't connect; tried all posted remedies!

rarejem · #1 (**permalink**) April 28th, 2008

Hi, I am an old, experienced user who suddenly cannot connect to any LW networks; I have reviewed the available links and can't diagnose the problem. I initially feared that RIAA has put the hammer down in some way; I hope not!!! I used previous versions of LimeWire for years with no trouble until now. (Literally--started with BearShare when it only gave endless lists of filenames--no display interface or options at all!) Wait, there was a major (very long resource intensive) Norton Live Update and possibly a Windows automatic update going on prior to starting LW which ate up all resources and froze everything; I rebooted but it continued to crunch well after the Norton said it was completed, so there must have been more. Maybe that's the problem? Cannot identify any win update that was installed.

When I couldn't connect, I finally accepted the upgrade to new version offer, hoping to solve the problem, but nothing seems to work. I installed the 4.16.6 version hyperlinked in the old program, but when I opened it, I got the "update for security" screen and updated again to version 4.16.7. I have tried all of the following: disabled Norton Internet Worm Protection; disabled Norton Auto Protect; variously disabled Windows Firewall and LAN connection Firewall in Windows Security Center, (previously, Win Firewall was always "off" and LAN firewall was always "on"--what is the difference?); checked to be sure exceptions for Limewire in Norton were still there, also deleted and added them again; tried to enter exception in Windows Security Center-Firewall, but did not know the LW IP address, so I entered "http://www.limewire.com ??; in Windows Security Center, changed Listening Port # from default to 8451 as listed in LimeWire; made sure LimeWire was checked as "Permit, Unblock, Allow, Exclude" or whatever applied in Norton and Sec. Center; did not select ultrapeer connection option; reset all LW options to default and went through each one to put in my preferences again; do not have another p2p running; no other program hogs are running, just 2 webpages and WordPad; have no proxy connections; have not downloaded or installed any new applications since last using LW; have not used a system restore; am unaware of any new ISP restrictions; am not connected to a network or workgroup; rebooted twice; restarted LW countless times; reviewed Norton activity reports and got this strange alert which occurred during connection attempts (# inserted to prevent publicizing my IP address):
Details:
Rule "Implicit block rule" blocked (COMPUTERNAME(7#.6#.2#4.#6),1030).
Inbound UDP packet.
Local address,service is (localhost,1030).
Remote address,service is (COMPUTERNAME(7#.6#.2#4.#6),1030).
Process name is "N/A".

SYSTEM DATA:
1. OS is WinXP Home Edition, SP2.
2. Firewalls: Windows Firewall (turned off), but Security Center says LAN firewall turned on???? Tried turning off each one and both together, but no luck. LW shows brick walled globe regardless so maybe there is something I'm unaware of. Never installed programs like ZoneAlarm, etc. but do have free version of AdAware, which never previously interfered with LW as there is no auto protect function.
3. 256 MB RAM
4. C: 50.8 GB, 14.6 available; D: 5.01 GB, 1.17 available; running Norton AntiVirus 2005, recently renewed subscription
5. Connection: Broadband Internet (LAN port)
6. Lucent Win Modem, no model #; driver version 8.28.0.0 (tried reinstalling driver); no router in use
7. Connecting from home as usual
8. Previous version of LW used to work perfectly until today, so I upgraded to Basic 4.17.6 after the existing version wouldn't connect. Do not know what version that was. Java is 1.5.0_11.
9. Time Warner cable internet (through ethernet port); Internet is on.
10. Got "Your test worked" on 6346 test page.
11. Not sharing connection.
12. Yes, brick wall shows on LW regardless of manual firewall settings (both on, both off, one on-one off).

Please help! Thanks!

rarejem