See http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=303507 "Black bar appears across
the page when you type text in Word 2002".

dave wrote:
When open a Word doc and start typing the line I am typing on and turn solid
black as I type and I can't see the text I am typing. It's like I have
selected text to copy but you can't see the the text at all. The text will
appear after I click somewhere else in the doc. But as soon as I start to
type again the line of text is totally blacked out. Why?