Limewire will not connect!!?

I downloaded tons of songs from limewire just 4 hours ago. Now for some reason, it will not connect. Everything seems to be normal, however when i hit search to find new songs, it tells me that limewire is connecting. I read the FAQ and it said the longer you keep the program running, the better connection you get but i have had it running for about an hour now. I heard something about disarming the firewall but doesn't that allow viruses? help!