Help, I'm just starting to download Limewire on a new p.c. Compaq Presario, and it keeps hanging up at the "installing java" step. Have cancelled and reloaded 3 times and always stops here. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Install Java first. Use the JRE offline installer & remove any other Java versions before you install this one.
Archive: Download Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Update 11

Once that's done, install LW & make sure to use the offline installer. When you click to download LW & the download box pops up, cancel it. Now you'll see the option to download the offline installer...that's the one to use