I have used Limewire for a long time now and I have just recently run into the problem of not being able to search or download. I have noticed on the bottom that the little world has a brick wall in front of it. I have tried turning off my firewall but have had no luck. Any help is appreciated!

Is your LW connected properly (all green/blue connection bars)? If LW's connected, try the fixes below.

1. In LW go tools > options > searching > basic & check whether the 'show license warning' box is ticked. If it does, untick it > Apply > ok...see if that makes any difference.

2. Problems with the search

3. 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 change all of your settings within LW's options, you'll have to go back through afterwards & reset things to the way you like them.
Vista users: LimeWire Pref Folder in Vista

If LW's not connected, try the fixes here.
If LW Will Not Connect
If nothing there helps, post back with your system details

I see the bars down at the bottom of LW and the smallest one is blue and the rest are red. I have done what you said in the last post and the brick wall is still there. Thank you for your help!

Ok, that means that your LW isn't connected - that's why you can't search.

Go through the fixes in the "If LW will not connect" thread in my post. If none of those work, there's a link in that thread about system details...post those details back here