Hmmmm, yepp, the standard templates seem to work. I somehow managed to make this occur in a custmized template... Something isn't right, but if I start with a standard template and edit it, it seems to work. Strange thing I had there... Thanks JohnyRoy for your time. And yes, Real player doesn't feel very good to have installed in the system, but I have to have it... and don't you just love the installaion and customization part of the project it is to install the thing, hehe.

Ok people, I know that in the past Real Player had some issues with spyware and such, but to be honest it is actually a very good format for streaming video, I think it's the #1 streaming format with windows media coming in at a close second (i might be wrong about that though) As long as you pay attention when you install it you shouldn't have any problems with it. I know a lot of people that just keep clicking OK without even reading what they are clicking OK to! Then they wonder why all their video and audio files open up with Real Player and then get mad and blame it on the player. Truth is that every media player you install wether it be Real, Quicktime, or Windows media, they want to be your default player for your media files that they are capable of playing. IT all comes down to paying attention to what you are doing when you install the program and you won't have any problems. Real is actually a very good format and I have and will continue to use it.

That is so far wrong, it's not even in the same ballpark. REAL streams MORE vid from their servers than Windows, but only because REAL servers can stream all 3 main formats. And because Windows Media servers come free with each server install, there is no real way to measure what Windows Media servers are doing.
Windows Media is and has been, the top format for streaming for nearly 2 years. REAL used to be the #1 player in the world with over 10 million installs, but WMP took that over too.
REAL is a good format, but can't compare to WM for quality any longer. This is part of why REAL has lost their market advantage, coupled with their sneaky install tactics that flummox even very experienced geeks.
REAL also used to collect info via cookies about user habits, they've stopped doing that as of 6 months ago, and they're struggling their way back up. Helix is a terrific tool for them, and a great server platform. The fact that it streams QT, REAL, and WM files is the only reason they've stayed in business. Sundance used to heavily promote REAL at one time, because REAL 9 was the first HD format for streaming. But Windows Media quickly usurped REAL. You'll likely never see DVD players playing REAL for instance. But you'll shortly see most DVD players playing Windows Media.

Yeah, I figured Real might not have been on the top anymore since WM9, I know it used to be the top format though. It's still a good format IMO and we still get tons of clients that ask for it.
My main point was that you shouldn't be scared to have Real Player on your system as long as your careful whe you install it.

I'm not worried about RealPlayer taking over other formats or spying on me. Both of those are easily circumvented. What bothers me is that the RealPlayer installation causes other processes to start up and run in the background all the time and it's tough to find these and kill them. For the once a month i may happen to watch a RealMedia clip, i do not need nor do i want realsched.exe and it's host of other "things" running in the background all the time.