i'm gonna try to answer your questions in order:
1.windowsXP
2.windows firewall (and i did configure it to allow limewire)
3.512 ram
4.don't know about the hard disk space avail. it says 120GB on it.
5.dial-up (live in the boonies)
6.modem brand name & model? emachine?
7.home
8.limewire 4.9.30 java just downloaded jre version from lordoftherings limewire fixes
9.netzero
10.no p2p sharing
11.worked
12.true
13.speakeasy speed test is still going after 15minutes. something must be wrong.

still don't know what's wrong, but i did get it to come up after restarting my computer twice. but it froze up the first time. now its closed.

thanx for the help.