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How to install and use LimeWire

 

This article will cover a basic LimeWire installation or better said it will show you how to install and use LimeWire on a computer running Windows. If you're using a different OS like Mac, or Linux you shouldn't notice any big differences and this article could help you to. Let's see the latest features available for LimeWire. For example, you can now creates and share lists ( allowing you to share a group of files with your contacts or your friends ), it has a Facebook integration ( you can use your Facebook id to share files with other Facebook users and friends ), has a better BitTorrent support and a better search and finally "if LimeWire identifies a virus in your search results, it won't let you download the file" but that doesn't mean that you don't have to use an antivirus on your computer. We will cover a default installation on a PC running Microsoft Windows. The first thing to do is to obtain the setup files, so you can always download LimeWire from here. This will ensure that you will download the free, LimeWire Basic version. After the download, just open the setup file that will look like in the following picture :

 

 

Right after that a small window will ask you to choose your default language and you can choose your desired language, for me it will be "English" ( this is also the default language ). Click on "OK" button and let's continue.

 

 

The second window will display a welcome message that says "Welcome to LimeWire" and it also says that LimeWire Basic is a free program so if you paid for the basic version, you have been scammed. Click on the "Next" button to begin installation.

 

 

Setup will install LimeWire in the following folder "C:\Program Files\LimeWire". If you want to install it on a different folder click on "Browse" and choose another location on your PC. To continue press on the "Install" button and be patient as it may take several seconds or more depending on how fast is your computer.

 

Please Note: If you don't have Flash Player installed on your computer or Java, it will automatically install them on your PC. So, when the "Installation" is running, if you don't have them, you may see those messages displayed inside of a smaller window :

 

Please wait, installing Flash
Please wait, installing Java

 

 

 

If the program has been successfully installed on your PC you should see the following window that says "LimeWire Installation Successful!". Make sure to check the little box with "Run LimeWire" and the press on the "Finish" button.

 

 

You will not see the program interface for the first time since you need to agree with some legal stuff. There is a "Copyright Infringement" window that says "LimeWire Basic and LimeWire PRO are peer-to-peer programs for sharing authorized files only. Copyright laws may forbid obtaining or distributing certain copyrighted content." By clicking on "I Agree" button you confirm that you have read, understand and assent to the terms of the license Agreement and Privacy Policy. You will also agree that you will not use LimeWire for copyright infringement.

 

 

In the meantime you could see LimeWire that shows an image with an green lemon, it's actually the program loading itself.

 

 

You are now requested to take a minute or two ( it will take you less ) to configure these options before moving on. As you can see by default the "Associate .magnet and .torrent files with LimeWire" and "Launch LimeWire at system startup" are being selected by default. Additionaly you can select "Don't let me download or upload files with copyright owners request not be shared". Click on "Continue" button to move on to the other setup window.

 

 

This window tells you that the files in your public shared list are shared with the world and as you can see the "Add files I download from P2P Users to my Public Shared list" is checked by default. If you need to change anything from these options you can change them later by accessing tools and then options. Click on the "Finish" button to continue.

 

 

That's it, this is how LimeWire installs on a PC running Windows. As you can see the program interface will load for the first time and you can type anything to search in that box that I wrote "type anything you want to search here..." and the program will start to search for files. From now on you can see how to use LimeWire, better said how to configure this program if you need to change something at his behaviour.

 

 

If you want to customize LimeWire you can add or remove options by accesing the program interface and then to click on "Tools" - "Options", the following picture shows you how :

 

 

The first tab is called "My Files" and from here you can add a folder to the Library or to a List, you can add the files downloaded from P2P Users to your Public Shared List. You can also click on "Configure" button to manage the unsafe searching and sharing. There is more, you can even configure the way how files in your LimeWire interact with iTunes.

 

 

The second tab is called "Search" and from here you can choose which type of search to apply ( by default it will search for all files like videos, audio, pictures etc. ) and choose to remember any recent searches. There is also a "Search Filtering" option that will alow LimeWire to help you if you want to prevent viruses by not showing Programs in search results, to do so click on "Configure" button. As you can see, this is very important from here you can choose to avoid downloading or uploading files copyright owners request not be shared or to avoid showing adult content in search results so you can even click to configure the "Filter Keywords..." and "Filter File Extensions..."

 

 

The third tab is called "Downloads" and from here you can manage the way that this program will save your files. As you can see, by default it will save all downloads to one folder and you can modify and specify a different folder by clicking on the "Browse" button. You can choose to save different categories to different folders but I would suggest you to use the first option for a better control of what you download.

 

 

The fourth tab is called "Misc" and this section will allow you to change the language in English, to manage the notifications and warnings ( I would recommend you to let the warnings and notifications turned on ) and also it will allow you to sign into Friends when LimeWire starts.

 

 

The last tab is called "Advanced" and there are a lot of other things that you can customize to this program. You can take a look at "Files, Transfers, System, Super Really Advanced" and I am not going to insist on these options.

 

 

If you noticed, LimeWire changed the way that files were displayed after a search. All you have to do to switch LimeWire Basic to classic view is to check the second button located on the right side, the following picture will contain a red circle to show you the exact button.

 

 

That's it, if you want to learn how to install and use LimeWire, this article is probably a good start, it's not the best reference but it's good for those who never use it. Actually, there is no thing such as perfect articles, there is always something that can be added since programs are getting improved with each version. If this article could be a good reference things could change after a couple of years when new features will be added to this program. Also the entire setup and configuration could be completely changed. For the moment you need to remember that LimeWire is a search, save and then share experience. As far as we know if you download a file from Gnutella network, those will will be placed in the "Save" folder if you don't specify a different one and they will be shared with other users that use the same network like you - Gnutella network. If you need to comment or ask a question, press here.