Changing the default browser from IE to Firefox

Hi, I've read many help sections on how to change the default browser in Windows XP from IE to Firefox. But when I try to do it, the process fails. In detail, the steps I have taken are as follows:

I have:

Clicked Start
Clicked "Set Program Access and Defaults"
Clicked Custom
Removed the ticked box next to Internet Explorer which says "Enable access to this program"
And finally have also selected "Mozilla Firefox" under "Choose a default Web browser"

When I click on "ok", it opens Mozilla firefox and my default homepage comes up. In the start-task bar I can see and "Add or Remove programs" program open. When I click on this, it brings up a message "Setting Mozilla Firefox as default application...", with a progress bar underneath it. My problem is that this progress bar never moves. It's always on 0% completed, and when I close the browser window, it closes the progress bar and that's it. I can now see that the IE icon is not ony my desktop any more, however a lot of page links still open in IE while some open in Mozilla Firefox.

Could someone please help me out? I've tried it like 100 times and it's very frustrating! Any help appreciated!!!

I find it best to set the Custom list to Use My Current...

Leaving all enabled.

Also untick this setting:

Open Internet Explorer, Tools, Internet Options, Programs:

Internet Explorer should check to see whether it is the default browser.

Then open Firefox from it's shortcut.

There are many web sites that will only work with IE. If you happen to click on one of these then IE will open. There is nothing you can do about this.

This will happen with links in E-mail as well as Windows Update and others that require IE to run.