I am in need of urgent help.
Limewire PRO loads perfectly fine, once it has loaded, however, the connection bar in the bottom left corner of the window says "Starting Connection" and doesn't end up connecting. This stops me searching and there for I can't download anything either. This is only a problem on my laptop. I also have a desktop computer and it works fine. Both are running windows xp. My laptop runs windows xp home, desktop runs windows xp professional. Both connect through the same internet connection. Both have exactly the same firewall settings. The only difference between the two computers is that the listening port in the Limewire options.
I will be moving in 6 weeks and will not have my desktop any longer.

Did you configure your firewall so it allows LW full access (advisable not to have 2 active firewalls b/c they can interfere with each other); Firewall configuration instructions (click on link)

Can you give us a total desciption of your set up:
1. Do this simple test for us. Using your browser go here: http://www3.limewire.com:6346/ The page should say 'Your test worked!'. What happens when you go there?
2. What firewalls you have?
3. Connection type? (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.)
4. Modem & router brand name & model numbers?
5. Where are you trying to connect from (home, school, work, etc.)?
6. What version of Limewire (LW) & Java do you have? (Go to LW's menu Help>About LW...) Will show both LW & Java version.
7. Who is your isp provider (Internet Service Provider)?
8. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? If yes, please give details of set up.

I have a suspicion its related to using LW on 2 computers thru the same connection device. I'd tend to recommend using a different port. Is your modem/router set for UPnP? If not, then enable it or do a separate port forward for each computer using different ports.

The page displays "Your test worked!"
I only have the one firewall, windows firewall.
I use a dial up connection on both computers.
I don't have a router, and my modem is a simple 56k modem, internal.
I'm just trying to connect from home.
I have Limewire PRO 4.10.0 Pro and Java 1.5.0_03.
I'm through Primus.
Well I do sometimes connect the two computers via a LAN setup. It's a blue cord, not crossover. Then the internet is shared between the two with the laptop being the primary internet source. Usually I connect the two computers separately cause dial up is a little sluggish. On both occasions the laptop cannot connect to limewire.
I checked the UPnP settings on my dial up connection. They weren't enabled, so I have enabled them and nothing changed. So I changed the setting back to how they were.

We have both got the exact same problem

I haven't heard of any normal isp services blocking p2p where you're situated. For dial up, i'm not sure upnp makes much difference. It's designed for dsl & cable modems which have internal NAT firewalls (block most incoming & occasionally some outgoing ports.) Dial up modems don't use NAT AFAIK anyway. BTW my brother used the same isp for a time. But he's now using adsl.

Which computer is the modem inside? If it's inside the desktop computer then you'll eventually need to get a hold of another modem. If it's inside the desktop computer, you can browse on the laptop right? But you suggested the laptop was the prime source so I presume that's the one with the modem. It sounds odd you can connect with the desktop & not the laptop if that's the case. You did configure the XP firewall right? Firewall configuration instructions (click on link) I would suggest to isolate the laptop whilst you're trouble-shooting this since that's the one you're later going to be relying on. It will also need maximum bandwidth to connect. Perhaps the networking is affecting it ... I don't know. But to fix things let's isolate the laptop for the time being (standalone.)

For the laptop, do steps 2 & 3 here Fixes for Limewire whilst LW is CLOSED. Then go thru the setup options again. Make sure it's set to modem connection, disable UP option under speed. Set the speed for minimum or around 5-7 KB/s. That's the max speed dialup offers. Give LW plenty of time to connect. It might take 20 mins, it might take an hour. You can also try setting the connection to manual connection. ie: Tools>Options>Connections & uncheck option to connect on startup. Then wait 5 mins, go to LW menu bar, File>Connect. As suggested, give it plenty of time. If no good after 20+ mins, disconnect (File>Disconnect), wait a min, try again.

I've done everything you have suggested and still nothing has changed. Let me know "FRIENDS" if it helped your situation.

I have just reinstalled Limewire in the hope it might fix itself, and discovered an error message saying this,
"Limewire was unable to start the Digital Audio Access Protocol Service (for sharing files in iTunes). This feature will be turned off. You can turn it back on in options, under iTunes -> Sharing."
This error doesn't appear on my desktop. I'm wondering it it's part of the problem...but I don't know how to fix it if it is.

That error may happen from time to time. Generally a restart will overcome it. Unless you're using iTunes, you can disable iTunes sharing options. ie: Tools>Options>iTunes>Sharing. Enabling it will use more resources so unless you really want it, disable it.

I have exactly the same problems and have tried your instructions. This did not work, probably because i have talktalk broadband. what should i do to enable upnp?

Find out the brand name & model number of your modem/router devices. If you already know how to (telnet) get into the browse page of your device then you need to find UPnP option & enable it. I may have direct instructions page for you to see if I know which one you have. A no. of devices have UPnP turned off by default.

Symantic Antivirus was causing the same issue for me, I just had to disable auto-protect..........and a connection started. You may/may not have that software running on your PC, but if so - try the disable.