Cany anyone help me! My Limewire worked fine 2 weeks with Windows Vista and the same modem/router and Zone Alarm version I use now. I decided to reformat my hard drive for fun and now I can't Limewire to connect. It just stays at one green bar and says connecting. The only difference is that it is a newer version of Limewire and a newer version of Java (I used to have 1.5, I now have 1.6).

I have tried every solution I can find on these forums. The only time I can get Limewire to work is when I completely uninstall Zone Alarm. I have tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling Limewire before I reinstall Zonealarm. When I do that, Limewire works until I install Zone Alarm, then it won't connect.

I have tried port forwarding. Doesn't work. I have tried using older versions of Limewire and Java. Doesn't work, even though it did on my older setup.

And of course I have made sure that Zone Alarm is not blocking Limewire.

1. OS version? Windows Vista
2. What firewalls you have? ZoneAlarm Basic 7.1.078.000
3. How much ram? 2 GB
4. Hard Disk space available? 175 GB
5. Connection type? (eg: dialup, broadband, cable, etc.) Broadband
6. Modem & router brand name & model numbers? Actiontec GT701-wg
7. Where are you trying to connect from (house, appartment complex, school, student accomodation, work, etc.)? House
8. What version of LimeWire (LW) & Java do you have? (Go to LW's menu Help>About LW...) Will show both LW & Java version. LW 14.4.8, Java 1.6.0_02
9. Who is your ISP (Internet Service Provider)? Qwest
10. 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? It works.
11. Are you sharing the connection with other computers or p2p sharing programs? If yes, please give details of set up. Yes, a Windows XP PC is on the same network and can access Limewire fine with the latest versions of Limewire and Java.
12. Is this a your 1st try at LW or is this a new problem with an experienced user. New problem w/experienced user.
13. Do you see a brick wall in front of the blue world icon at the bottom of LW's interface? Yes
14. For those using a modem/router, how is your modem/router set up...are you port forwarding or is UPnP enabled? There is no UPnP on my router so I tried port forwarding. Didn't help. So I disabled it again, but I had Limewire working last week with port forwarding disabled before I reformatted.
15. What security programs are you using (antivirus etc)? Some people might not be aware that their security suite includes a firewall: Symantec Antivirus 10.2.0.276
16. What country are you living in? Sometimes there are ISPs with the same name in more than one country (eg Clearwire in the USA & also in Ireland). USA

I feel like I have tried everything. I even reformatted my computer AGAIN, and still cant get Limewire to connect.

Can anyone help

-Joe

Oh by the way something I didn't mention. When I close Limewire, the Limewire process stays in my Process Manager, even though the program appears to shut down, and ending the process does nothing.
I don't know if this has anything to do with the connection problem, but who knows.

Uninstall ZA & LW (start > all programs > LW & use the uninstaller from there). Reinstall LW first, then reinstall ZA. This fix has worked for a few Vista users

Lots of people have had connection problems with the latest Java updates! Go back to 1.5 & see if the connection picks up again. Try this version - download the JRE offline installer & remove your current Java before you install this one.
Archive: Download Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE) 5.0 Update 11

How do you have LW set to shut down? Tools > options > system tray. If you have it set to shutdown after transfers, it won't completely close until any down/uploads are finished. If you've got it set to shut down immediately & it's not shutting down properly, try the fix below.
Delete LW's preferences folder when LW's properly closed. See point 3 here & also point 2 if you've used older versions of LW in the past (there could be a folder in either location).
Fixes for LimeWire
This will kill all of your settings within options, you'll have to go back through afterwards & reset things. If you're not sure of your settings, go through LW's tools > options & write them all down, so that you can reset things later.
LimeWire Pref Folder in Vista

Well I already tried to reinstall Limewire first and then ZoneAlarm and it didn't work. But I decided to try it again, just in case. And it worked this time. I don't know whats going on anymore, this is very confusing.

Oh, and now Limewire actually shuts down when I tell it to.

I hate it when problems mysteriously solve themselves.

Thanks!