hey aaron. i downloaded this test version of BS, and the utility program. it worked beautifully for me for the past 2 years. now i upgraded computers and have Vista. now when i run the utility program, it doesn't work. there's just a little box that comes up and says, ''This Copy of Bearshare has expired". why doesn't the utility program work with Vista? i can't live without BS, so, can you or someone else provide a fix for this? thanks.

If at all possible upgrade the new computer from Vista to XP.
BearShare will detect Vista as an unknown Windows version and impose
limits designed for windows 98.

Right-click on both programs and set them to work in XP compatible mode
and with administrator permissions. Most people find this works.

You can also try the normal versions 5.1.0.27 and 5.1.0.28 and remove
the adware with the adware's own uninstaller program. The upgrade nags
never stop but neither will the program.

actually, i just changed the date manually, and it worked! beautiful! thanks for the suggestion about running in XP mode. i will try that. thanks!

Hello, Am also having problems with my bearshare. Am using vista, I tried those links given in this forum but they don't work for me. What can I do. Or I a better link to get it.

ok. What you have to do is download the "Bearshare Test" file. Go ahead and try and run it. It should say something like, "this copy of Bearshare has expired". Go down to the time, and change the date back to 3 or 4 years ago. Then open the Bearshare Test. It will run then. Once you enter all your details, it will open up. Then near the top, click on "Setup", and it will bring up a drop down menu. Click on "Service". It will bring up a box. In that box, you will want to check the box that says "Forced Ultrapeer". It says something about "debug only", but, don't worry about that. You need to check that box and make sure that you become an ultrapeer in order to get lightning fast speed and connections. Then you're all set to download whatever ya like, such as anything that's not copyrighted. (sarcasm) Hope that helps.

I'm having problems with connecting to BearShare Lite 5.2.5. I have had it for about 5 years. I left home and went to college in August and when I got here I was unable to get a connection to BearShare. I can connect to the internet and everything. But when I get on BearShare it continuously looks for host. If anybody can help fix this I will be so greatful.

Jessica, in this thread, go up to the link that says, "First" and click it. The first post in this thread is by Aaron Walkerhouse. He has a test program, and if you are using Windows XP, he also has a ''starter'' program that comes with it. Download those two things. Then, go back a couple of posts in this thread and read the instructions I gave the last guy about how to use this Bearshare test. Using my tips will help you run bearshare with ease and lightning fast! If you don't understand any of this, just reply and I can help you some more. Hope that helps!

If your BearShare has been sitting unused for awhile it's cache of addresses to
connect to will have gone stale. Shut down BearShare if it's running, download
connect.zip and unzip it into the folder called "C:\Program Files\BearShare\db"
and then start your Bear up again.

If that doesn't work, grab BearDiag, use it to generate a full report and bring it to
the original BearShare experts at Technutopia.

oh course me zipping the file didnt work. 8-( Now what I'm doing is running the BearDiag. Aaron Walkerhouse, the action that vansnoob is talking about will it work?

vansnoob...i did what you were talking about also. it says that BearShare has expired. It didn't even change the date that it said it was going to change on my computer.