Keep in mind that I'm not absolutely claiming that this is the fault of LimeWire, but I'm starting here.

Today I was editing the data on some of my MP3 files and realized that the track numbers in the ID3v2 and ID3v1 data for songs were totally inaccurate. Eventually I realized it wasn't just one album of songs but everything in my music folder.

The track numbers for every song are either 0, or the numbers 48-57. (or not listed, as some songs were beforehand)

Every one of these files has a last modifed date of September 8, 2006, a reasonable number; I haven't edited song data in at least that long. I'm not sure what did this.

Checking my download history, I downloaded LimeWire on the 7th (I'd used it on older computers, but hadn't had a use for it till then). I wouldn't be surprised if I downloaded and forgot to install for a day...

The other possibilities are something from Windows Update (but I didn't download Windows Media Player till a few weeks later) or Winamp.

Going by the records in Winamp's Media Library (which still lists a lot of numbers correctly, but not all), I last indexed my music folder a good while before Sept. 8, so I doubt that was the cause.

(There's one odd file, with a 13 for track number, that has a creation date of August 12, 2006, when I got my laptop, and a last modified date of February o_O)

I haven't found anything through google-fu or the search function here. I'd be indebted if anyone has heard of this and can point me in the right direction, whether it be that Limewire is at fault or if they know of some other program that does mess up stuff like this.

Also, is there any program out there that will quickly update metadata for songs? (Especially that could be told to only update the track number...)

Thanks!
(And I think I'll run virusscan and adaware while I sleep, to clear that possibility up)

I haven't heard of that before, but have you played the songs through WMP at all? Did you use the LW Describe function on those files at all? (Just a stab in the dark!)

Do you have a file utility such as Norton utilities? It might be worth checking whether the system/HDD itself has corrupted the information.

I got rid of Mcafee right when I got the laptop. Avast! has always played much nicer, from what I've seen.

The only thing I've used Limewire for is to download about half a dozen songs at most. I did try reinstalling Limewire (with the same installer I used originally (4.12.6), but it doesn't seem to have had any effect. LimeWire isn't even aware of my music folder, I believe. Or at least, I've disallowed it from uploading stuff on my computer.

Nothing was found (except 13 harmless things of adware) with antivirus/antiadware/spyware.

I'm finding more odd stuff. The MP3s from a CD that I reripped yesterday to a temporary folder contain the correct data when viewed in Winamp, but when displayed in Explorer, the track number is zero, and the album is blank....

I think I'll go restart the computer, just to be sure... Edit: That fixed the Album Title display problem, but everything else remains the same.