The folder's hidden by default, so you'll have to show hidden files & folders to be able to see it

Go to My Computer, click on tools > folder options > view. Put a dot in the circle next to 'show hidden files & folders' > apply > ok. Now you should be able to find the preferences folder.

i did that and it wasnt there i also did the search and it wasnt there
i downloaded lime wire again thinking that might help and it didnt
it takes forever to search for music in general even bands that are by definition popular
ive been using limewire for so long since like version 1 and i have never had a problem with this, someone mentioned something to me about a brick wall at the bottom left hand corner
does that have anything to do with it?

Did you look for a folder in the old location of C:\Documents and Settings\your username\.limewire? Since you've used much older versions of LW, you'll most likely have a folder there too (that one's not hidden).
Otherwise, I'm stumped! You've gotta have a prefs folder

Can you give us your details, please?
System details - help us to help you

ill check there then because i have seen that folder

ok i went to that folder and opened it and there was nothing there that resembled a prefences folder i had to delete that folder A LONG TIME AGO like a long time ago, but i dont know where it could be or what happend to it

The .limewire folder is the preferences folder. There's no folder called 'preferences' inside it. You don't have to open it, just delete the whole .limewire folder. You might've deleted it before, it's a fix for quite a few problems. But after you deleted the folder, a new one would've been created the next time you started LW.

Same with the prefs folder in the new location, within Application Data. It's called LimeWire & you just delete the whole thing, no need to open it.

ok i did that and its still having trouble
it does the same thing but now
it connects for a long time and then says needs more sources
it also takes a long time to preform a search