I've XPSP2. For ages I've contentedly used WMP 9. I looked at WMP 10; do not like it, period.

I've no idea what causes the following behavior.

If I insert a CD in my CDROM or go Start > Programs > WMP I get the message: "Thank you for installing WMP 10..." thought I've not installed it. It continues: "During setup, WMP 10 will be the default player."

OK. If I try and install WMP 9 from its exe (or its setup exe) on my HDD, it starts to install and almost immediately announces "Your version of Windows on this computer already contains a more recent version of WMP. WMP 9 will now exit." I click "OK" and the announcement vanishes. And that is that!

What can I do to get WMP 9 working again?

Yeay, I can use RealPlayer--that works just fine. But I prefer WMP 9.