I currently do not have RealPlayer installed, so I'm unable to give the
specifics, but there is an option in the preferences to enable/disable
the startup autoload.  RealPlayer retains the association and will
continue to automatically come up when needed, but disappears completely
on exit.

There is an alternative called appropriately enough "Real Alternative"
It is constantly being improved and works quite well for most RealPlayer
needs.  It is free and can be downloaded from the page link below.
There is also an alternative for QuickTime and various other tools for
audio/video enthusiast.  The codec package has come though for me every
time I came across a media file that wouldn't play properly.

   http://doa2.host.sk/index.htm

Tom

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