LW's downld prefs are stored in the incomplete folder in a file called downld.dat. So deleting the main LW prefs will not affect them. It just means the next time you open LW you will be asked the basic questions about where you wich to downld your files to, etc.

Updating LW is extremely important b/c LW is designed using Java & designed for the latest versions of Java so if you have it it will operate more efficiently & faster.