Word 2000 won't open files

[chc]

When the user tries to open a file, the file open dialog box lists some of
the files in the My Documents directory and then Word freezes and must be
closed using the "End now" button. I have tried repairing Word and also
deleting it and reinstalling. No change. Document files can be opened from
explorer by clicking on the file and once opened the file can be changed and
saved but no files can be opened from inside Word. This problem does not
occur with Excel, PowerPoint or Publisher. The computer is running Windows
XP and Word 2000. Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Terry Farrell]

This is usually because there is a dead mapped drive set up or some type of
unobtainable link in the Explorer window that is cause Word to hang looking
for it. Go into Explorer and under Tools, check all the mapped drive
settings.

 

[chc]

Thank you for your reply. I disconnected all the mapped drives and restarted
the machine but no change. I also removed a "msn web places" link under
Network places. Now, after you start up the computer and open Word, the file
open dialog box will open correctly the first time but if you close the first
document and try to open another one, it hangs up as before. It also hangs
up on subsequent openings of Word.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Seems that something may be dirtying normal.dot too. What happens when you
rename normal.dot to normal.bad? Does Word start first time correctly and
then slowly on subsequent openings?

Terry