Cannot select text in Word2000

Periodically I try to select text in Word2000, and even though I hold the left mouse button down and move the cursor toward the other end of my intended selection set, nothing happens. No text is highlighted. Later after a reboot and a lapse of several hours, everything may work fine. Eventually the problem returns. have not seen a particular pattern, it just happens sporadically.

System is a Dell Optiplex GX1 (pentium) with 256 MB of RAM running Windows 98 ver. 4.10.2222A.

Has anyoneexperienced this and found a solution, or at least a documented bug awaiting a fix?