Until recently I had 4.12. This stopped connecting so I deleted and downloaded verstion 4.14. It worked first time I used it but it has since stopped connecting. Everytime I type in a search I get " Limewire is currently connecting to network. Your search may not return many results until you are fully connected to the network". I left it searching for the evening and it did not connect. I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling both Java and Limewire but am still having the same problem. I do not have firewall ... so that's not the problem. Its getting really frustrating now. HELP

I have windows XP and connect via cable.

Also, some of my files in Media will not play - ones that were downloaded from version 4.12 .... any ideas???

Moved to Vista Support.

Try this first, sometimes preferences can get corrupted after switching from version to version & it can lead to connection problems.
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

What version of Java are you using? Try this version. Download 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


If that doesn't fix things for you, please give us your details
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Thanks for your help. I will keep this in mind for futures problems (hopefully there will be none). However, limewire started working okay before I tried any of your suggestions - typical!!!