Word 2000 docs *not* opening any more in Explorer-- why? How do I fix this?

[Stan]

[To contact me, drop those 2 words in address.]

Hello,

I use Word 2000 in a computer running Windows 98 First
Edition.
Today the following problem started: I can no longer open
existing Word documents by clicking on them in Explorer. When
I double click on a Word document in Explorer, Word starts but
shows no text of the document below the tool bars at the top
of the Word screen. [The area where text should be is gray.]

When I discovered this problem, I saw that the icon for Word
documents had mysteriously changed to one used by my CD
burning software. So I used Explorer's "View | Folder Options
| File Types" to re-associate them with Word and I changed the
icon to the usual Word doc icon. This didn't help. I still do
not see text at all even though Explorer indicates size info
(so the document is there). [I can open the document but only
by doing this by using Word's "File | Open".]

How is this fixed so that double clicking <in Explorer> on a
doc name opens that document in Word?

Thanks,

Stan
[To contact me, drop those 2 words in address.]

[NOt...@execulink.com]

In Windows Explorer, hold down Shift key, right-click a word doc, click
Open With... and choose Word (making sure to checkmark the box "always
use this program to open this type of file").

If it doesn't work, try deleting the .doc file type first; then you'll
be re-associating it "from scratch".