jjoan, A few things to try-
The following three files are known to become easily corrupt and cause a myriad of problems. Trashing these will cause them to be rebuilt and often fixes assorted ills. For sure it is worth a try and it cannot hurt.
Go to: user/library/preferences/Microsoft and then trash: Office Font Cache (10), Word Font Substitutes, and Word Settings.
Then, Repair Permissions.
If that doesn't work-- (I doubt this will solve the problem as I understand it, but it may be worth a try)
The Project Gallery feature, which opens up by default on launch, is very buggy and can cause Word to crash.
So, open any Word document so that you can get to the Preferences, then:
1. On the Word menu, click Preferences, and then click General.
2. Disable/clear the Show Project Gallery at startup check box.
3. Save changes and quit Word.
And if that (also) fails to help--
Use the Remove Office utility in the Value Pack folder on the Office v.X install CD and remove everything. Then go back and re-install using the installer rather than drag and drop. Finally you can reapply all the updates. Unless you do that it is highly likely you will leave traces behind and those traces will get you every time.
When/if you elect to remove & reinstall, please ensure you first have backups of all your important data.
Also, upgrading to 10.2.8 may be of help…
Harv