Word Documents Open Slowly

Word-2003 (Ver. 11.6359.6408 SP1) on Win-XP Pro SP2
(with all updates €“ and a nice clean machine)

When attempting to open any .DOC (by double-clicking on the file) while in
Windows Explorer, it takes approx 20-30 seconds for the document to fully
load.

When opening WORD first and then finding any file to open,
no problem €“ they open instantly.

When opening from WORDs MRU €“ no problem €“ they open instantly.

When opening from The Desktop MRU €“ no problem €“ they open quickly.

All possible ways of opening any document works just fine EXCEPT when
attempting to open ANY document by double-clicking on it while in Windows
Explorer.

My attempts to date to correct this problem have been:
Re-associated €œ.doc€� files with WORD, but no help.
Reregistered word (winword /r), but no help.
Employed the €œDetect and Repair€� from WordHelp €“ to no avail.
In Safe Mode opened WORD via winword /a - no help.
Uninstalled office completely and reinstalled €“ no help.
Attempting to open other files from within Windows Explorer:
Excel opens slowly, just like WORD; PowerPoint Opens quickly.
No add-in macros, templates, COM, etc. affecting Word or Excel.

Any suggestions?