umm, yes thankyou, that is a lot more detail.. but im not sure why you said I answered your question.. all i did was ask for more info... anyway.. 'to actually answer your question now' lol...
Lets just clarify that you DO in fact use QuickTime. But you dont know it. QuickTime is required for iTunes to run on your computer that is why when you update iTunes it also updates QuickTime.
So the reason why you have it opening things when you click on links is because when you installed QuickTime the first time, you obviously didnt choose the 'Custom installation' option, there you can choose whether you want QuickTime to make changes to file types in your system's registry.
To fix this you can:
1. Open Windows Media Player
2. Press ALT+T and Click Options
3. Click File Types
4. Check Mark Mp3 or any other conflicted file types and Click OK
5. Close Internet Explorer and Reopen it.
Removing Quicktime Association
1. Open Quicktime in Start > Programs > Quicktime
2. Click Edit > Preferences > Quicktime Preferences
3. Click [File Types] Tab and Uncheck MP3
4. Click [Browser] Tab
5. Click MIME Settings, and Uncheck MP3
6. Click OK Twice
Setting Default Associations
1. Click On Start > Set Program Access And Defaults
2. Click Custom and Scroll Down to Default Media Player
3. Choose a Default Media Player like Winamp
4. Press OK
Another way is to:
1. Open Internet Explorer
2. Go to tools and down the bottom click on Internet Options
3. Click on the Programs tab
4. Go to the bottom and click on 'Manage Add-On's
5. If you dont want QuickTime in Internet Explorer AT ALL, then scroll down where you find anything to do with QuickTime and press Delete in the Delete ActiveX box.
6. If you want to disable the add-ons, then do the same as '5' but instead just press the disable button on each of the entries