WMP 7.1 will not open when clicking mpeg links on the web

I really want to reinstall wmp 6.4 and do not want a higher version due to
all the extras - just use 6.4 as a viewer. (See my other post). However, I
temporarily installed 7.1 until someone can help with 6.4. Now I find that
when running 7.1 with files on my pc all is ok but if I click on an mpeg link
to view a video file on the web, 7.1 will not open. The only changes I made
were to make the reg change to prevent the wmp upgrade process from running
but I do not think this should be a problem. I found this regedit suggestion
in the ms knowledge database and an positive no other changes in the reg are
an issue. Please help me get 7.1 running temporarily until I can get
successful info on installing 6.4 again.