A couple of questions:
How do you know when someone who is not shareing files is downloading from you? And if they are not sharing can you stop them from downloading from you? Also, I am currently sharing 350 files, what is the average number of files to share? I am asking these because I'm trying to download files that the searches said that 10 people have these files,but I'm unable to download them. Lastly, I downloaded a clip that doesn't seem to have sound. Do I possible need a new codec? Thanks

You can't easily know if someone is leeching, since that host may just be busy. There isn't an easy way to block leechers with LimeWire.

http://www.bearshare.com/stats/ collects quite a bit of info on their part of the gnutella network. Perhaps it will give you some idea of the leech % and average number of shared files per node. 350 sounds OK

http://www.videolan.org/ offers a free player that works well and often plays media files others can't. Maybe it will play the file properly, or at least tell you if part of the file is missing something (there are a lot of corrupt media files out there).

There is no way that you can tell if another user is sharing files. For instance they may upload on a DSL connection on one computer and download on a wireless connection on another one. In short you cannot tell, but you get a feel for what they are doing if you study their upload patterns. If I get a n idiot queuing 50 or a hundred songs from all over my different shared folders, I will block him without hesitation. I doubt very much if he would be sharing.

Your codec thought souns correct. I'm not sure myself what you need, but google might give you the answer.

I am wary of files shared by multiple hosts. It is often these are empty files, advertisements for iPods or viruses. Most of my files come from single hosts, but if there is a small number of hosts with a file I want, I will give it a try. The file sizzes are a helpful giveaway. Always check the file sizes of what you are down loading, and do not confuse Kb with Mb.

I hope this helps a bit ... I'm tired and rambling ... so I'll get some sleep

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Thanks Hobo and Stief for the advice VLC work on the clip that didn't have sound on my media player. And I dont have to try and download it again in another format.