Wow that's scary about your ear - but seems like it's viral so hopefully some anti-biotics and bed rest will fix you up.

Argh I have Windows Vista and after earlier versions I have such problems with those kinds of things. Windows has become progressively user-friendly in such a way that it's so restrictive and dumbed down. It doesn't trust the user to make the right decisions so it won't let you manipulate anything. Hopefully there is something in your settings, a check box for you to uncheck.