Having problems loading an external file into a blank movie clip in the parent movie

alright I have a main swf. and there is an empty movie clip called window1.

I have an external swf that is loaded that contains the menu. i have the clip loaded into level 14.

i am having problems having the menu load an swf into the empty movie clip.

on (release) {
	loadMovie("about.swf", _parent.window1, "GET");
}

in firefox, the code above loads the swf, but it replaces the menu. it does the same thing in ie.

on (release) {
	loadMovieNum("contact.swf", _parent.window7, "POST");
}

and this bit of code makes the swf open in another browser tab in firefox, and in ie it replaces the whole parent movie.

I need the menu and the parent movie to stay intact.

i really need help with this asap.