My problem seems to be resolved. I doubt this could be of any help to anyone but I'll tell you how it happened anyways. I realized that I HAD made one change to my computer around the time when Limewire started crashing everything. I installed the game Baldur's Gate 2. I decided to delete the game from my computer in the pathetic hope that it would somehow miraculously solve my problem with Limewire. It did. Don't ask me how. Perhaps the geekyness of Baldur's Gate 2 conflicted with the coolness of the indie rock songs I was downloading with Limewire. More likely the computer gods chose to have mercy on me. Whatever the case, maybe somehow this story could prove useful in figuring out this problem. Limewire works again for me. There was a little slowness at the beginning which scared me but since then, no problems. Good luck to anyone dealing with this problem. And no Baldur's Gate 2 for you.