Problem w/Word as email editor

[CIW]

I have always had Word set up as my email editor for Outlook. Recently I
suddenly started receiving an error message when hitting reply to an
email. The hour glass hangs for awhile, then I get the following error
message:

This form requires Word as your email editor, but Word is either busy or
cannot be found. This form will be opened in the Outlook.

When I go to open Word, the folllowing error messages comes up:

Document Recovery--Word has recovered the following files. Save the ones
you wish to keep. The available file is Boiler.dot.

What caused this problem? Do I need to reload Outlook or Word?

Thanks,

Carol