At home I’m using Pro version 4.12.3, on XP ( 1 Gig RAM) with an ADSL service. I have 211 Gig free on my C Drive and 6 Gig free on my E drive which is the drive where I save my downloaded files. The problem is that all of a sudden I can’t get connected to Limewire. It always says “Starting Connection” but it never gets beyond this point. When I try to do a search it says “Limewire is currently connecting to the network”. The problem however is that it never does connect! When I click on the Connections tab, there are none there.

When I click on the “Direct Connect” tab it says “Your computer is behind a firewall or router and cannot receive direct connections”. Is this the problem and how do I fix it? I also have a laptop connected to my wireless router and that can connect fully to LimeWire without any problem.

Apparently I do have a firewall - but what program or file this might be I have no idea. In Limewire there is a picture of a globe icon with a brick wall in front of it. If this is the problem what do I do now to fix things up? In C:\Program Files\LimeWire there is a file called “WindowsFirewall.dll”. Is this relevant and should I delete it?

I have reloaded Java software. This made no difference whatsoever.

How do I know if a spyware removal program has miscategorized LimeWire as spyware and that this is what is causing the problem? I am using avast! Virus protection with normal sensitivity, however I can’t find anything to indicate that avast is blocking Limewire.

I also have AVG Anti Virus Free Version 8.5 which I have tried to remove in case it was the problem - however without success so far. I’m also running Spybot.

Any ideas that might work? Thanks.

Check through this thread for suggestions of things to try: If LW 4 Will Not Connect (click on the blue link).

Normally if a spyware program miscategorizes LW, it will usually prevent it from opening altogether. Many if not most spyware programs have options for exceptions anyway.

I see you're using same ISP as me. It's my guess your gnutella.net file might need replacing. BTW despite how much you might luv LW 4.12, I think you might do better with LW 4.16. Both LW 4.18 & LW 5 prevent versions earlier than 4.14 downloading from them. http://www.gnutellaforums.com/340213-post427.html

Why would I want to upgrade from this version? I am not convinced that LimeWire 5 is an improvement.
Limewire Pro 4.16.7 works well and does all I need.
Can you enlighten me?

Changelog - LimeWire

I did not suggest upgrading LW.

Improvements of LW 5 over 4? LW 5 has been re-built from ground upward to prevent over-coding, crowded window views, and to generally improve each function.
LW 5 opens & loads much faster than LW 4. Connects much more easily and much faster. LW 5 has various search result filters that LW 4 did not have such as size filter. Search has some improvements to fix a bug which existed in LW 4. Separate view for what is shared. Download window is viewable at all times unless you choose to view Uploads & easy switch between each of these. Option for sharing with friends (this has replaced Direct Connect.) Player is upgraded in abilities & improved, can now even view videos. Player playlists can be saved & link retained on main window viewable at all times. Library/Shared easily set to view only particular media type. Easier to add shared files & folders & decide which media types from these should be added. Better & upgraded iTunes support. Better torrent support & options.

There's more I'm sure but this is a quick list of improvements.

LimeWire marketing prompted me to upgrade via open search window.
Is that your opinion that limewire 5 performs better? Or what the technical dept says?
Thanks 4 your reply

Matter of opinion of course. I have both LW 4.16 & 5.5.8. Now LW 5 has implemented many of the tools missing from earlier LW 5 versions that were in LW 4. My comments above in my previous post were a combination of my own experience & knowledge of improvements made. I like both. I have thousands of files shared in LW 4 with lots of information added to them.

The original LW 5.0 release was a bare bones program with not much in the way of tools. Only from about LW 5.3 through to LW 5.5 did these tools & improvements get re-added from LW 4 and some additions that LW 4 does not have.

LW 5 looks quite different. The default search results window looks different, however you do have choice between search results view options. The Classic view is equivalent of the LW 4 search results window. Uploads window is now on main window (using tabs but is different to LW 4.) Library & shared files are also on the main view window (excluding the default blank window when you first open the program.)

LW 5 does not have Chat option for normal use, only for Friends options. ip addresses are no longer shown, these are replaced with pseudo names. Descriptions of files are different system & LW 4's descriptions are not applicable to LW 5 if you swap across. Also to access the description/details of a file it is shown in a separate popup window.

With LW 4 Explore button function shows a folder a directory level above the file, whereas LW 5's system takes you directly to the file & highlights it on your desktop.

Cancelling downloads in LW 5 also deletes the incomplete file, unlike LW 4.