My guess is that it is the latter. However, please see the disclaimer regarding phone answering ability. I would also mention that the electronics flyers included with local newspapers have become entirely unintelligible. Nevertheless, I appreciate the link to the tutorial. ;-)
Ok, if it's running in the systray (right side of the taskbar, assuming the bar is still on the bottom of your screen), try removing it via MSCONFIG (see post #13) & see what happens.
You're referring to the icons situated in the lower Right hand corner... That is the "task bar", and those are programs running in the background..
If you right-click on the task bar, (but to the left of the icons, not "on" them ) a menu will come up..
click on "task manager", then clik the "Processes" tab..
There will be a list of those programs currently running on the computer.. The names are in no particular order.
Click on "Image Name" to order them, then find "qttask.exe" select it, and click the "end process" button..
That should shut down QuickTime without killing your computer..
Check your Start Menu..All Programs.. Find QuickTime and point to it, see if there is an uninstall quicktime options listed.. if so, click it..
What is the result?