Having scrolled through endless pages about this isssue , I too have the same problems in that my computer slows down when using LW and my downloads are very slow, 1-9 Kbs, when I was downloading at a much higher download speed a few days ago.

I have tried a few of the suggestions posted in various threads/posts but to no success!!

Spec is:
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1.9 Ghz 756Mb Ram 120Gb & 60Gb Hard drives
O/S: Windows XP Pro SP2
A/V: McAfee Internet Security Suite
Microsoft Anti Spyware installed
NTL broadband@ 1Mb, tested & not blocking p2p

I have been downloading from emule @ 80Kbs tonight.

If anyone can find a solution to this issue, please let us know!!!!