word freezes when composing in outlook

[Liz]

Hi,

I am using outlook XP, and when I go to either compose a
new message or reply/forward an existing one, after about
10 seconds of typing, my email editor (Word) freezes, and
I have to "End Program". Sometimes, after a few times of
doing this, it will work. I'm not sure what's going on
though. I reformatted my hard-drive recently but this
problem existed before it and has persisted since. Any
help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Liz