Webmaster Forum / Browsers / Internet Explorer / March 2006

I'm using IE6, WMP9 and Windows XP.

Up until last week, when I clicked on a link to an MP3 on a web page,
IE6 opened the MP3 in WMP9 - as a separate program, not a plugin - and
would buffer and begin play as soon as it could.  I liked this.  It was
good.

Last week, I upgraded my Quicktime from 6 to 7 (using the stand-alone
version for XP that does NOT include iTunes).  In the process, the
Quicktime plugin took over playing MP3s in IE.  It waits until the
entire file is loaded before beginning play, and it plays it as a
plugin on the browser instead of as an outboard program.  This annoys
me.

I've been through the file association settings in Quicktime and MP3 is
most emphatically NOT checked on any menu page I can find.  I made
explicity sure while setting up Quicktime 7 that it was not going to be
associated with MP3s at ALL.

And MP3s ARE still associated with WMP for all other purposes.  If I go
to Windows Explorer and check File Type associations under "Folder
Options," MP3 is associated with WMP.  If I double-click on a MP3 file
in Windows Explorer, it opens with WMP, as it should.  The problem ONLY
occurs when clicking on a URL within IE.

Years ago, when I used to use Netscape 4.7, I recall that there was a
menu screen where you could set what program Netscape would use for
each individual file type.  If IE6 has such a menu screen, I can't find
it.

What to do, short of a System Restore that rolls me back to Quicktime
6?  (Which I'd prefer not to do, as I'm enjoying the cartoons at
www.channelfrederator.com, which you need Quicktime 7 to watch...)  I
would also prefer not to upgrade to WMP10.

Thanks for any help.