I was wondering about the quality rating in the bottom left corner. Does this have to do with how many search results I can get and how fast my downloads will be? And does the number of files I am sharing affect this either? Thanks a lot.

Sharing can affect it. If you're uploading to other people then you should get better connection quality. Don't overdo the Resume button (if at all) b/c this has several side-fx. One is that it can affect LW's connection quality. You can still do searches with a low connection quality but the downld success AND the search results may both suffer.

See some hints: A well set-up LW can start to automatically continue its dwnlding after it's settled down perhaps 2 out of 3 times you open LW. Optimising LW & Maximising Uplds & Dwnlds A (1st post only) & also Part B which is even better & last & least are search & dwnld hints. The latter one I've been thinking about re-writing for some time. That's just for playing it safe. eg- I show all speeds & qualities.

eg: http://www.gnutellaforums.com/showth...028#post116028

And is it safe to share all of my files

I share most of mine. That's a personal decision I guess. For whatever reasons. If you're worried aobut copyright then I guess it depends where you are & how popular & new your files are. I've come across people who've shared over 10k. I share close to 3k. If you have people uploading from you then yes it makes a big difference to your search & downld results. They become moer reliable. What's more, if you see my last link, I often don't do anything more than open LW & just let it sit in the background without doing anything. It looks after itself. That's the ideal place to be!!! If you can reach that status, then you are doing well & you know you have everything set up just right for your particular system.

Too many people think the answer is to Resume their files. Little do many realise the damge it does to LW's stability as well as your comp's. It's also not so healthy for the network. SO many requests puts stress on the network & slows it down.

My use of LW is so relaxing & controlled. Only once in a while do I need to sit there & do some slaving to get my results or continuations, etc.

Thanks a lot. I appreciate it.