It always says "Enabling Open Information Sharing" Don't worry about that bit.

Do you see the firewall icon (brick wall in front of the globe)?
How many green connection bars do you see in the bottom left corner?
What thing keeps alerting you every 2 seconds?

Read the sticky below, there's a heap of info about connection/firewall problems.
Connection problems? Check here first!

If you're stuck, post back with your details. Post #2 of the sticky will show you the info we need.