You could instead try BearShare 5.1.0b25 (new installer) which fixed my problem with BearShare running on Windows 7 after a clean install. This new installer was created by File_Girl & works like a charm.

What I did was to uninstall BearShare using add/remove control panel. Delete the BearStart on desktop, then delete the BearShare Test folder in programs folder. However you will want to keep your share list. So you will need to go to your BearShare program folder, open up the db folder & remove all the library.db files & place them somewhere safe. Then delete the Bearshare Test folder from programs.

Then install the above version. Open it & see if it runs ok. If yes, then close the program. Go back to the program folder, open up the db folder & replace the library.db files with your old ones. Then your shares, etc. will be back to how they were before next time you start BearShare. BS must be closed whilst you return the old library.db files however.

My bearshare connected fine directly after installing & opening.

Person to thank is File_Girl71