Hi Tower, thanks for your suggestions I'll give them a try
Cool report back soon - don't forget to get rid of the start up software on the Right hand side of your Task bar, if that is required. My guess is your two leech control software do not agree working together. Let's hope so. I use Leechammer as it is very flexible, but for the Novice by far the most 'techy'. It has known bugs and does do strange things to your graphics display when your CPU is taxed with other things. Never run other stuff while WinMX is running in the background overnight.
Especially if they require internet access, things such as Media Player and loads of other media software now use the net on a routine basis and can cause problems too when you are being hit on hard by high speed players.
If you max out speed to other users is say 60Kb per second broadband, only give them 51K, save 15 to 20% for your handshake traffic and other unseen overheads. Best way to do that is reduce your slots to no more than 4 or 5 broadband and just one for dial up