Have you used older versions of LW before?

Did you use the online or offline Java installer? And did you remove any other Java versions installed, before you installed the latest version?

If you used the online Java installer, then try reinstalling using the offline installer & remove any older versions before installing the new one. There are some other fixes to try here as well (click on blue link): http://www.gnutellaforums.com/331559-post2.html

yes i have had limewire before, i did an uninstall on the add/remove screen.

i used the online download and install. how do you do an offline install?

also i removed all the earlier versions and updates of the java re before i put in the newest version.