Change your file association for .doc from Wordpad to Word.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To associate a file with a program

1. Open My Computer.

2. Double-click a drive or folder.

3. Right-click a file, and then click Open With. If Open With is not
available, click Open.

4. Follow the instructions under the option that matches the dialog box you
see:
+ Open With--Recommended Programs list
* Under Programs, click the program in which you want the file to
open, or click Browse to locate the program you want.

-or-

* Click the look for the appropriate program on the Web link to
search the Web for a program to open your file.

+ Open With--No Recommended Programs list
* Under Programs, click the program in which you want the file to
open, or click Browse to locate the program you want. You can also type a
comment that provides information about the file type. This information will
appear in the folder window under Details when you view the file in a
folder.

-or-

* Click the look for the appropriate program on the Web link to
search the Web for a program to open your file.

+ Cannot open this file
Windows cannot find a program to open the file. In the Cannot open
this file dialog box, do one of the following:

* Click Use the Web service to find the appropriate program. This
enables you to search the Web for the program that will open the file.

-or-

* Click Select the program from a list to choose a program to
open the file in the Open With dialog box.


Notes:
* To open My Computer, click Start, and then click My Computer.

* For some file types, you will right-click a file, point to Open With,
and then click Choose Program.

* To ensure that Windows always uses the same program to open the file,
or any other file with the same file name extension, in the Open With dialog
box, select the Always use this program to open these files check box.

--

JoAnn Paules
MVP Microsoft [Publisher]



"Oz" wrote in message
...
I have recently upgraded my computer from WordPad to Word2003. How do I
set
the default setting as Word 2003 so that any word attachments or documents
are automatically opened in Word, rather than attempting to open as
WordPad
documents