Many times LimeWire tries to connect to hosts on the Gnutella
network, but it cannot achieve a connection with any of them. In these
cases, the connection quality indicator in the bottom-left corner of
the LimeWire window remains at one bar indefinitely.
Moreover, the firewall status bar icon indicates that your computer
is
behind a firewall (brick wall in front of a globe). Under most
circumstances, LimeWire will connect to the Gnutella network even if
your computer is behind a firewall. In some cases, a port will need to
be manually opened before LimeWire achieves a connection.
In some cases, LimeWire will not start at all, and
you receive
the following error message (follow the link or scroll down for more
information):
- LimeWire
was unable to initialize and start. This is usually due to a firewall
program blocking LimeWire's access to the internet or loopback
connections on the local machine. Please allow LimeWire access to the
internet and restart LimeWire.
Solution
Third-Party Security
Programs
Many third-party security programs block LimeWire from
connecting either by restricting access to the port
that LimeWire uses to connect to the Gnutella
network (i.e. - a firewall), the program
itself, or a combination
of the two. These programs may have been pre-installed on your computer
when you first purchased it. Check the Windows system tray (usually
located in the bottom-right corner of the screen, next to the time),
and locate the icon that is associated with the security program that
you are using. Right-click the icon to enter the settings.
Programs Known To
Potentially Block LimeWire
Norton Internet
Security
Norton Personal
Firewall
McAfee Firewall
Kerio Personal
Firewall
SyGate Personal
Firewall
ZoneAlarm Firewall
AOL Firewall
SBC Yahoo! Firewall
SBC Yahoo! Parental
Controls
eTrust EZ Armor
Panda Internet
Security
Trend Micro PC-cillin
F-Secure Internet
Security
Microsoft Windows
Live OneCare
Adding An Exception For
The LimeWire Program
- Open the settings of your security program (usually by
right-clicking the system tray icon)
- Locate a section for adding exceptions for specific
programs
- Add LimeWire as an exception (C:\Program
Files\LimeWire\LimeWire.exe by default on Windows systems)
Adding An
Exception For The Gnutella Port
- Within LimeWire, go to: Tools > Options >
Advanced > Firewall Config, and make a note of the listening
port located in the box next to "Listen on Port"
- Open the settings of your security program (usually by
right-clicking the system tray icon)
- Locate a section for adding exceptions for specific ports
- Add the port specified in LimeWire's settings as an
exception for both UDP and TCP, incoming and outgoing (also known as opening
the port)
