awesome... yeah... I am running sp2... I'll try that.

well... i ran the patch... it said it changed the allowance from 10 to 50... it ran longer... but ultimately froze. Should I run the patch again and change it to a higher number?... If so... how high?

50 is enough. if the pc freezing with no torrents running, but the client open?

yeah... it froze once like that after about 2 hours... then it was fine for the next 6 hours or so

if its happening with no torrent running, then Im not sure what else is left.

you could try turning off any anti-virus and seeing if that helps, as some anti-virus' have caused BT/system freezes in the past (usually its just the torrents that lock-up, but that may in turn be causing your sytem to lock-up too)

does XP have built in anti virus?

no, sp2 doesnt have built-in AV.
Can you list your modem, router, firewall makes and anything else that you think may be relevant please (especially security apps and hardware)?

I am sharing a wireless router with my neighboring apartment tennant... all settings are default... no WEP.

Router: Linksys
Wireless Card: NetGear WG121
Firewall: I was using ZoneAlarm Free, but I read about some conflicts with BitTorrent, so I started just using XP firewall.

There's not much more on this PC... just a few non-security apps (photoshop, Dev C++ Compiler, etc)

Ive seen a few posts on various torrent forums about netgear stuff locking-up when BT is in use. I googled 'NetGear WG121' and this appears to be the case.

Yes Stay Away From NetGear. I Brought Their WG121. Lots Of Issues.

When Using BitTorrent, The Device Just Lock's All Data Traffic. There Are Several Reports About It, However NetGear Refuse To Admit There Is A Problem Yet It Has Been Proven To Be A Fault With NetGear Device.

You could prove this by using a different connection, like dial-up/USB modem etc.

Beyond that I have nothing to suggest. In my experience, certain hardware and software cause endless conflicts with bit torrent (zone alarm, nod32, certain routers etc)

Good luck

looks like I just need to get a new card... thanks for all of the help... changing the half open tcp count from 10 made a really big difference in how long it runs before locking up.