I love bearshare and that wont change! but.... I am currently using Bear Share 5.2.5 and every time I attempt to run Bear Share, it takes several tries (up to 10 tries). Once I make a connection, it shows one or 17 or thousands of users...why is this??
I’m using this connection list
running on windows 7, 32 & 64 bit

You could try either of a few other connection lists.
I have a couple at very bottom of post here http://www.gnutellaforums.com/host-c...bearshare.html The rar & zip are same. But two options for each. One came from Windows 2000 & other from Win XP. The first is probably the best.
My Win 2000 BS 5.1 beta connects in seconds. Runs better than either of my other win installations.

File_Girl also has one. But I'm not sure where she's posted it. Though she did post http://www.gnutellaforums.com/host-c...d-version.html quite some time back. That cache posted with it is probably too old now. No idea.

Oh didn't finish answering your question. Probably BS is still stabilizing connection so looks like it's connected to lots & lots of others. But you would probably find most of those will drop off the list one by one.
If you are running in ultrapeer mode then you will get lots of connections, over 20 or 30.

When BS begins to connect, it runs through the connection cache & tries each connection. It may also discover some along the way who are running as ultrapeers. So this is why you will normally see lots of connections in the connection window .. even if only for some minutes.

thank you for the updated connection list, that seemed to help.
but, i tried the Beta version that you suggested and the expiration
date kept popping up and would not run until i ran it as administer.
it would only connect half the time again..until i had Windows Emulate..
as Windows 2000. it connected flawlessly. as with everything, there is a
BUT...could not access my library..without crashing! it would crash everytime
i opened Bear Share. went back to the 5.25, emulated it with every old version
of Windows that was available to find the best one that was Vista. if i moved
mouse too much , it would crash. SO now what?!! any suggestions??
Also, how is this still operational? can it be tracked back to you

I didn't realise you would install the Beta. I was only referring to the connection cache.

As far as the Beta goes, after installing, you don't open the actual BS program, only the BearStart program. This program pushes the computer system clock time back for a couple of seconds only until the BS beta starts up. You would be best making an exception for this in any security software. And if running it on Vista or Win7, yes may need to Run as Admin.

File_Girl has made a better version of the BearStart program, so it does not cause as much strife to come people's computers as it might. The link to it has not been posted on the forum yet. The eventual plan is to change the entire BS Beta installer with new settings.

With the Beta, best if you select the Force Ultrapeer mode. This seems to get it connecting.

No, the BS web links within the beta program are old & outdated. So nothing whatsoever to do with the new owners of the BS program.

You are running Vista or Windows 7? Did 5.25 only start crashing after you tried the Beta?

When running the both versions of BS, I made exceptions for security software.
When I had Beta I did check the Ultrapeer mode. I didn’t notice a difference.
I run Windows 7 BUT I tried it in every Compatibility mode.
Yes, it did start crashing after trying Beta.
Any idea on when file_girl is going to release it?

i tried the Beta again..install went ok..When it asked for ur settings, it doesn't get past the place where u tell it to save ur downloads without crashing.

ok i got by that by going into safe mode.
now when i go to bearstart i see

i get connected, go to download a song and see this instantly

this is what happens when the Compatibility mode is on windows 2000

I haven't tested this yet, File_Girl sent me the link a few hours ago (I only just returned to the forum): BSTESTINSTALLER 5.1.0.25.rar - 4shared.com - online file sharing and storage - download. The installer has been changed, prefs are included in the installer, different time-change program to use instead of the BS Start. I'm not sure if she included connection cache, she said she was going to.

I'm going to test this on one of my Win XP's first after uninstalling & removing all traces of previous BS prefs & folders.

You might be suffering same issue I am with running BS Beta on Win 7. It was running fine for almost 12 months until start of year.

If nothing works with the Beta, we will try to work out how to get your 5.2 working without your shares & downloads being affected. ie: deleting your BS preferences. I know which files to take out of the settings folder, but we'll look at that at a later stage if necessary.

where are the BS prefs.
C:\Program Files\BearShare Test?
no connection cache, unless file_girl has it auto installs it.
is there any directions or just go ahead with it??

I just tested it. Works flawlessly on Win XP. Some settings have been updated such as inclusions of file extensions used nowadays, eg: m4v etc. And no need to set to Ultrapeer this is now set by default.

Yes settings are stored in the BS Test folder. Cache inside the db folder. I'm not sure she included updated connection cache though, dates don't seem to suggest it. But mine connected without issue very quickly. I'll ask her about this. The plan was to include updated connection cache.