LW runs fine on an oldish iBook here, so perhaps a Safe Boot and repeated Software update will fix the underlying problem.

If not, then check if LW will work in a new System Preferences->Accounts->New User Account. If so, delete the LimeWire Preferences folder in the old User account's Library to see if that removes the problem.

Thanks for your time and help. The system is kept updated, so I shall try your other suggestion. I have also successfully used older Mac OS X to run limewire on other machines and am mystified why this one is causing problems.