Being Leaf node is not a problem at all. Majority of users connect in Leaf mode.

You can still often connect with the message you received, even upload. However ideally you'd not be seeing that message.

How to deal with large quantities of spam results? There is a possibility you are connected directly to an ultrapeer that is actually a spammer or to an ultrapeer that has spammers connected directly to them. To deal with this is to remove the longest connecting ultrapeer connection & wait until LW finds a new one & your connection settles down to normal again. Then try searching again. Repeating this can sometimes help. See Birdy's post here http://www.gnutellaforums.com/open-d...tml#post355169