See point #1 about a link to LW 4.16 & see if it works at all: http://www.gnutellaforums.com/downlo...downloads.html. If we can get one going hopefully FW will bounce back into action also.

BTW do you have a second account on your computer? You could always set up a Test account & see if LW & FW work there at all. I'm not sure about windows, but on Mac it's very easy & quick to set up a new account & delete it later.

it worked on the second account I just created! without a single problem but what does that mean? Does that mean that there's something on my usual account which interferes with FW? because other than some desktop shortcuts and things like that I see no major differences in the two accounts. I mean my files and things aren't on the secong account although the programs are and it seems like a real hassle to transfer files form one account to another on the same computer. So what can I do if files are the only difference why does it work on the test account?

Good to hear, that's a start. At least we now know the issue is account specific. Run CCleaner again on main account, both the registry cleaner & the first tab. I wonder if something is amiss ... perhaps remnants of your old security package or something else that is blocking. Trying to find the problem could be extremely difficult. It might even be a hidden file .. a preference file of some description. I'm not a windows wiz on finding such things.

On mac I can run multiple accounts at same time. lol I discovered you can also do that with windows & have two LW's running simultaneously, but that's obviously not the answer we are looking for.

I ran everything again still the same on the main account still working on the second account though, I was trying to see how to transfer files and folders from one account to another but according to what I've read it is extremely difficult to do and most people seem to say that it shouldn't be attempted. I have way too many files and things to just abandon my main account for the test account. I'm officially at a loss.

After a bit of digging I found a safe way to transfer the files from my main account to the test account and I ended up deleting my main account and setting up the test account as an administrator as far as I can tell I didn't lose any crucial data. All my files folders, programs etc are still intact and FW works without a hitch. i suppose you can reccomend setting up another account for other people with a seemingly incurable problem with FW. I don't recommend it for anyone who considers themselves computer illiterate or impatient though. Since it took about an hour to two hours to transfer my files and my computer is pretty fast with 4 gb of ram and a 250 gb HD.

Great to hear! Sorry you had to go through that to get FW going again. But glad the issue is solved .. one way or another. lol :D Happy sharing! :)