Why don't you try a repair of Word? When you go to Control Panel - Add/Remove and click on Word and Remove, doesn't it give you the option to repair?
If that doesn't work, try this:
This behavior can occur when the Normal.dot template file is corrupted.
RESOLUTION
To resolve this behavior, follow these steps.
NOTE: Because there are several versions of Microsoft Windows, the following steps may be different on your computer. If they are, see your product documentation to complete these steps.
Click Start, point to Find, and then click Files or Folders.
In the Named box, type Normal.dot, and then click Find Now.
When the search process is complete, right-click Normal.dot, and then click Rename on the shortcut menu that appears.
Type Normal.old, and then press ENTER. If you receive the following message,
If you change a file name extension, the file may become unusable.
Are you sure you want to change it?
click Yes.
Click Start, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Cleanup.
In the Select Drive dialog box, click C:, and then click OK.
In the Files to delete box, click to select the Temporary Files check box, and then click OK.
When the clean-up process is completed, start Microsoft Word.
