Microsoft Access SR-1

I have seen this before

If I visit with IE7, up comes a box saying it is
installing Access 2000 SR-1. If I check Process I can see Windows
Installer, msiexec, and it has spawned sub copies of itself. If I
cancel the installation, it is persistent in that it comes up again to
try and reinstall. IE7 is unrespnsive

I dont think the installation of Access 2000 SR-1 is "hoax" (but it
could be) but why cant I shut this undesireable behavior off in IE7?
I have seen this before in several other websites, all of which think
I need to install Access 2000 SR-1.

Any background information on this?