I recently updated to Java 7u9; now I find LWPE is no longer working. Now when I start it, I get this:

Also, I notice that it's ignoring the existing LimeWire folders (<~\AppData\Roaming\LimeWire> and <~\Downloads\LimeWire>, which both have files from before the Java update) and instead creating new ones at <~\.limewire> and <~\LimeWire>. I've already tried deleting and reinstalling Java, making sure I "Run as administrator" on advice found here (despite having done the same thing the first time AFAIK).

How can I get LimeWire running again, and how can I get it to use the folders it was using before?

I updated the recommended Java and LW opened fine. I installed the 64-bit Java and then had exact same issue as you.

Only way I could get LW to work again was to uninstall the 64-bit Java and re-install the 32-bit Java despite it already being installed. LW then opened fine.

And no problem, LW will revert back to using the old preferences location and the prior download location.

A few days ago someone had same issue but they were trying out Windows 8 so I presumed it might have been something odd about the new Windows version. Seems it is a LW and the newer 64-bit Java issue.

I am guessing this is a LW 5 only issue, same as the Java 7 issue only affected LW 5 versions. I will check LW 4 out later after some sleep.

Now I remember why I adopted a practice a decade ago of only updating software after reading user feedback about whether the updates were safe/ok without introducing problems. When you are using particular software for work, you cannot afford problems some updates can cause. I won't waffle on about that but it still holds true for many softwares, including so-called upgrade versions. (The software company pushing you to pay extra pennies to buy more (new) bugs.) Anybody name me any software where the upgrade version did not require later bug updates. I often suspected it was deliberate.

FYI: It's not necessary to uninstall the 64bit version; as long as the 32bit version is installed last (after the 64bit version), everything seems to go back to normal.

Also, this solved another minor but nagging problem I've been having for months - I use OpenOffice, and since the last time I updated that, I was unable to use the search function in OOo's help system. I don't remember if I also updated Java at the same time (let alone which order I installed the Javas the last time I updated them), but reinstalling 32bit 7u9 fixed OOo, too.

Thanks a lot, LotR.

P.S.: I've also adopted a policy of disallowing automatic updates of anything for my friends' computers (I'm something of the neighborhood geek-in-residence), but I didn't find any info about new or additional compatibility problems with this latest Java update. OTOH, I've pretty much banned Google Chrome on the PCs of anyone I do maintenance for, because of the difficulty of disabling automatic updates for it.

Thanks for the heads up. I can suggest this to others whom have this same issue. I will also add this information to the Java part of the LW Fixes.

I tend to waffle a little when I'm super tired lol.

I just updated Java again to 7u10, this time making sure to do the installs from the administrator account and making sure to install the 32bit version last, but I'm back to LW acting as if it was the software that was freshly installed, asking all the configuration questions it asks when first run and ignoring my existing config folders. Last time, that problem magically disappeared once I got the Java install right, so I never dug into what could be causing it, but this time the problem won't go away.

I used the same approach with installing 32-bit java last and it fixed the problem as with the previous Java 7 update.

Try uninstalling all versions of Java. Then install the Java 7_10 64-bit set to Run as Admin.
Then install the Java 7_10 32-bit set to Run as Admin.

Make sure all browsers are closed when uninstalling and installing the Java versions. Having your 64-bit browser open during installation might have been part of the problem. Also might be an idea to close down (log out of) any other accounts until you finish the installation.

For your user-account, thanks for letting me know. Which username would you prefer to keep? I can merge the two accounts into one, once I know which username you would like to keep. You can send me a PM if you would prefer.

I've been having a rash of "problems occurring" like this, so when I saw this screenshot you posted I decided to reinstall LWPE as well, and that seems to have resolved things for now. Thanks again.

(Irrelevant observation: If it truly is "possible for LimeWire to recover and continue running normally", then why doesn't it just do that? This strikes me as poor program design.)

Glad to hear it's working again.

I'd prefer not to comment about LW 5's design lol. Only reason I started using LW 5 full-time was because my LW 4 version went buggy on OSX (and connection problems back in late 2010). The LW 4 preferences option would not show, so I could only access settings via a backdoor (the shares window.) Installed LW 4 on a different OSX installation on same computer and same issue. LW 5 versions definitely have some bugs that were never fixed.

Oh dear - are there some incognito authors of the program on here that I might offend by continuing in that vein?

The LW company closed to my knowledge. The devs parted ways to other good paying jobs. The devs presumably signed agreements not to pursue any kind of file-sharing development in the future.
LW 5 did have some improvements over LW 4, most notably the interface. But as a whole, LW 4 had a bundle more tools and options for the user. And I have always missed those tools. LW 5 was simplified down so to speak, which is fine if you don't know much about these kinds of programs. But for the experienced users, they wanted more tools and options.