I am using ver 2.3.1 on a linux system and a windows system.

I have cleared all the hosts out of the connections tab under tools->options
on my windows machine, and entered in the ip of my linux system. I only want to connect ot my linux system.

however Limewire connects to a bunch of hosts even though i removed all hosts (connect1, connect2 etc.) from my connections tab on the windows system

It will not connect to my lnux system at all.

Yes there is connectivity between the two, as I can access my linux system from the windos system.

any suggestions on how to force limewire to only connect to one host?????

Configure a firewall on the Windows system to only allow the IP of your Linux machine for the port that LimeWire uses, typically 6346.

my windows system allows access to all ports from my Linux system.

Real Audio, windows media player etc play streaming audio/video just fine.

I can connect to the gnutella network fine using LimeWire.

I do not want to conect to the gnutella network, or anyone else.

I just want to connect to my inux system so I can
get the files i download with LimeWire on my Linux system to my windows system using LimeWire.

I took out all references to any gnutella servers in the connections tab, and limewire still connects to other hosts.

I put "just" my linux systems ip address in the connection tab, and it wont connect.

I know port 6346 is open on the linux system, cause limewire works fine.

any suggestions/clues on how to get limewire to just connect to one machine without it looking out on the internet for other hosts?

Is your linux system also set up w/ one server in the connection tab--specifically your pc's IP address? If you try to connect to your linux box from your PC, and your linux box is running LimeWire on the internet, then YOUR PC WILL BE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET. (That's how peer-to-peer filesharing works.)