Have not been able to connect to Limewire for months, something must have changed, has anybody any ideas, have tried a different port, Ive even reinstalled Windows, and a different version of Limewire, have also shutdown Zone Alarm Firewall.

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Using Windows XP Pro.
120 gig spare on 2 drives.
Zone Alarm Suite,
Spybot.
Limewire 4.12.11.
Java 1.6.0.01.
System has not changed since Limewire last worked.

Rather than running without a firewall, make sure that ZA's allowing LW.

If that doesn't help, delete LW's preferences folder when LW's properly closed. See point 3 here & also point 2 if you've used older versions of LW in the past (there could be a folder in either location).
Fixes for LimeWire
This will kill all of your settings within options, you'll have to go back through afterwards & reset things. If you're not sure of your settings, go through LW's tools > options & write them all down, so that you can reset things later.

Who is your ISP?
Where are you connecting from (house, appartment, school, work etc)?
Did the port test work?
Do you see the firewall icon in LW?

Some people have had connection problems with Java 1.6.0_01. If you like, you can try this older version. Use the JRE offline installer & remove your current Java before you install this one.
Archive: Download Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Update 11
You can always reinstall 1.6.0_01 later if the earlier Java doesn't work!

There is no preferences folder in the Limewire directory,only network share and root.
My ISP is NTL (Virgin Media)
Connecting from my house.
Port test worked,
Firewall icon is always there even when Zone Alarm firewall is turned off.

You're not looking for a folder called 'preferences' are you? The prefs folder within Application Data is called LimeWire. You don't have to open that folder, just delete it.

If you're connecting with a router or modem-router, it probably has an internal firewall. If you want to address the firewall issue, please tell us the brand & model of your modem/router.

Did you try reinstalling the older Java?

Have installed the old Java as you said,
Am using the standard cable modem 351000 from NTL,
nothing has been changed since Limewire last worked, used Limewire for a few years,
seems everyone is getting the same problem, so there must be a common factor.

There's not much info about that modem but it doesn't seem to have a firewall. Do you have a router as well?

Did you successfully delete that preferences folder? You'll know if you did...all your LW options would've reset to defaults.

Which other port did you try? Try 64049, or something else in the range of 49152 - 65535.