I know how you feel. I've recently been having nightmares about the Eternal Requery Monster who counts down very sloooowly from 300 whispering in my ear.

There are a number of steps you can take:

1. First of all command click (do a quick click and don't hold the button down) in the title-bar of the search window (where it says Name Type Size Speed etc.) and select Location in the popup menu that appears. You should now have a host IP list in your search window. When you do a search, don't try to download hits with a host marked in red as you'll just get the Eternal Requery. On my computer these tend to be 192.168.*.* and 10.*.*.*

2. If you're downloading a file from an (in theory) available host (black) and you're still getting the ER, try repeating the search (Command-click on the search title tab at the top of the list and select Repeat Search from the popup menu). When the hit with the host you're trying to download from appears, the download sometimes (re)starts. If the host doesn't appear then it probably means it's no longer available - you can try repeating the search several times.

3. If you try a repeat search and the file you want appears, you can try killing the download and selecting the file from the list (double-click). If the name and size are exactly the same, the download should restart from where it left off (assuming it started at all).

4. If these solutions fail you can try stress-relieving techniques like swearing (not too loudly so the neighbours don't call the police) or repeatedly punching a soft object such as a pillow or cushion (I can tell you from personal experience that it's unwise to hit the computer for the good of your hand and that of the computer).