How does LW access file on the internet? Does it attempt to log on to the internet and search for files by name? Or does it attempt to access a LW server somewhere (without specific file names) and, once connected, reveal the files it is looking for? I have read about pinging- is it like sonar? Hello I'm here!! or is it "Hello I'm here and this is the file I'm looking for?"

Well, for a better answer, go to the technical resources at http://www.limewire.org/

The short answer is that when you (or anyone) runs LW while connected to the internet, the LW part of your machine will respond.

Lke sonar, I guess: we show brightly, but the "gnutella" requests pass over all the other machines.

thanks for your reply. Did you mean that LW makes a simple "ping" before every search to see who is on the network? Our server blocks LW, but I inadvertently left it running in my icon tray while I was at work. Noone has contacted me yet, but I don't want to get in trouble with the network admin guy- he scares me. If my computer is only pinging to see who is out there, OK. I simply make sure that the settings are changed and it will never happen again. Right?