Terry's advice to use Device Mgr to get your info & drivers was good and if
you haven't done that, I'd still try it if it was me in your shoes; well,
chair anyway; I'm pretty sure you're sitting on something to type g!
IMO, the printer and graphic drivers, BTW, are important because Word
uses them to create its Preview modes, and several other things. So the
drivers -could- work OK with everything else, but be corrupted such that
Word can't use them as it wants to. Just thought you might like to know why
I suggested them earlier.

About the only things I can think of (or find) in Word along these lines
would be the macro protection. Tools, Options, select the Security Tab and
click the Macro Security in the lower left of the window.
I don't think that's the problem but just in case it is, I would -still-
recommend keeping the setting turned ON. Macro viruses are fairly easy to
pick up and their sources are NOT other .doc files; they're regular old
viruses. BUT, that should only slow down file loading, not mess with the
appearance of keystrokes.
Any chance you're using a "special" keyboard of any kind? I did have a
programmable keyboard do that to me several years ago. A standard keyboard
wouldn't do what you're seeing, but a "special" might - they sometimes have
their own processors inside them, doing lots of work.

You did make me think though: It would be worth a trip through the Tools,
Options tabs to be sure everything is set where you want/need it to be,
although it seems to me they wouldn't cause problems instantly, as soon as
you opened even a blank document, which I feel sure you described. At any
rate, it might be worth the look-see. Look at each and every tab and see
what it's set for.
There are too many for me to list here, but feel free to come back with
more questions for the ones that elude you; someone will know about them.
You won't hurt anything by testing them out: If you're afraid one of the
settings might screw up your install, don't be. If you still are though,
just change that one single thing and check it out. If it didn't make any
difference, put it back where it was.

You might want to try reinstalling Word in-place. I don't remember what the
Menu item is called, but it's self explanatory. Pop the CD in the drive and
let it start the installer. By installing in-place you won't lose any data.
I'm not positive some settings might change though, so if you have macros
and things stored in templates (esp normal.dot it's a hidden file I think)
you might want to back them up first. The reinstall only takes a few
minutes - all it does is copy fresh files to the disk.
You might also need to apply any fixes/updates to Word after that, but
not sure. Check Help About to see what fixes are installed before/after the
reinsall in place.

HTH,

Pop
--
Let someone else do it
I'm re-tired!
"TF" terryfarrell%40%6d%73%6e%2ecom wrote in message
...
Select WinKey+Break (which opens the Systems Properties dialog) and select
the hardware tab and then click on Device Manager. Double-click on Display
Adapter and windows will tell you exactly what display adapter (graphics
card in the real world) you have installed. Then go to the Internet
support
site for that the manufacturer and download the latest driver that matches
the card type and your OS. Follow the manufacturers guidance for
installation.

--
Terry Farrell - Word MVP
http://word.mvps.org/

wrote in message
oups.com...
:I downloaded (even if I didn't need them) the latest drivers for my two
: printers (Lexmark and Epson). I did not help the slowness of Word at
: all. So I must conclude this is not a problem with printer drivers. I
: don't have voice recognition, so it's not that. I don't know what
: graphics drivers are, so I can't persue that suggestion. My gut feeling
: is that there is some setting on my Word program that is busy scanning
: something in the background, slowing down the process. I am certain the
: program did not behave this way -- say a year ago or so. I wonder if
: anyone out there can think of some setting in the tools that might do
: this.
:
: Thanks
: