connections folder
 

i have recently seen what seems to be ultrapeers appear in my connections folder my question is what are they and how will they affect me dowloading and others uploading ...your help willbe apereciated ...

Ultrapeers are those people that you connect thru in order to connect to the Gnutella network. These people are needed for everything to work. The more the better! What they do is sacrifice some of their bandwidth to make it easier for leafs (non UP's) to connect & handle multiples of inquiries. LW standard will connect to 3 UP's whereas LW Pro will connect to 5 UP's. If you want to find out more about Ultrapeers, then search the forum for ultrapeer, peers, & leafs. Here's a quick reference: http://www.limewire.com/english/content/glossary.shtml

so just out of interest why has it just started to do this ...as it didn't before ..

have you upgraded to a newer version LW or Java recently or changed your ISP. It could be LW has realized it needs those type of connections now and you have the resources available.
Just a thought.:)

is there a way to force LW to make me an Ultrapeer Instead of a Leaf?

No

With LW basic I was always an Ultrapeer, I went to Pro now I'm always a leaf. The network decides whats best. I've read that leaf is just as good ultrapeer if not better.