"Not Responding" message

[CBC]

My laptop is using MS XP Home OS. When I try to open a document in Word,
Excel, PowerPoint, etc. I get a message stating "Not Responding" but the
document will eventually open after an extended period of time (several
minutes). Are there any settings or preferences in MS Office 2003 or MS XP
that can be changed or adjusted to alleviate this issue?

 

[DL]

Opening, how? From the Component File menu or double clicking on a shortcut
or in explorer?
Do the individual components open themselves quiickly?

 

[CBC]

The files will not open when they are either an attachment to an Outlook
Express e-mail or saved in the My Documents folder.