is there a way to clear the green check marks. The one that shows what has been downloaded

Hmmm not sure what you mean by green check marks.

Have you In LW tool>options>downloads>clear downloads ---- Auto-clear completed downloads --- check this box > click apply > okay

Have a good day

when i have done a search and downloaded something, if a search again then there is a check mark where the stars are on the file that i downloaded. If I get ride of the stars then my wife will think that something is up.

That does seem to be a problem now, which there is no sollution for except what you mentioned --- disabling the catagory field.

That check mark appears to show you have already d/l that file, so you know what has been d/l and what has not from your search query.

Have a good day