Wow! I'm not sure what happened or why - but it seems to have fixed itself! Could this have anything to do with it - I had downloaded a program and it didn't instal properly so I uninstalled it. The uninstal was not complete and I kept getting a message that the program was trying to start up ( even after the uninstal ) but couldn't and part of it was still on my system in the form of a Shellex.dll file - that no matter what I tried, I couldn't get rid of. I found out about Unlocker - downloaded it and poof! it got rid of the hellex.dll file. I had shut Limewire down while I installed Unlocker - just started it up and everything seems normal.
Sorry about the double post awhile ago.. Thank you so much for your advice I appreciate your time. have a great New Years and may the New year be a prosperous and happy one for you.