I've got XP and on the occasions things seem to get wonky I check the Task Manager and there's WMP, gobbling up cycles invisibly in the background. And I hadn't even started it in most cases. Is there any way to disable or remove the damn thing? 'Cause I don't really need it, and it doesn't show up in Add or Remove Programs. Thanks.
WMP certainlu is a dodgy piece of software, and can be considered spyware to boot (though realplayer and lots of other media stuff is too). Go to Start->Control Panel and along the left, Add/Remove Windows Components, and uncheck WMP. While you're at it, if security is important to you, I suggest also uninstalling Internet Explorer or at least not using it again.