Perhaps I should really know better, but everything I've tried so far has no effect. Whenever I try to play mpegs or similar files on my system, the whole thing locks up on me, EVEN the mouse. It seems to me that WMP and Creatives MEDIA player are both trying to play the file at the same time.
Short of uninstalling WMP, is there a way of making Creative the DEFAULT media player, or disabling WMP?  Right-click the file you want to open, choose 'Open with', then 'Choose Program'.  Scroll down to the Creative icon, click it, then just below all your choices you MAY see a box that SAYS "Always use this program to open these files" and put a tick in that box.

Alan <><  Cheers for that. Tried it, but both players still fire up. same thing also happens when I try to view "video clips" on the internet. Any more IDEAS? Please?Fire up Windows Explorer.  Tools-->Folder Options-->File types.  Have a look in that list.  Be careful.  Thanks Rob. Had a look, altered a few settings, (I was careful too). Result is still the same though.
Looks like i'll just have to shoot WMP.   :-/I'll loan you my .357 magnum!!

Alan <><  Uninstall both programs.  Install your least favourite media player first, then install the other - pay close attention to the file associations dialogues.