Access problem with OLE Server

I have an Access 2000 database where I can insert an embedded object in one of the fields (such as a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet). When I try to insert the document or spreadsheet, Access gave me an error message "A problem occured while Access was communicating with the OLE server or Active X. Close OLE Server and restart it outside Access. Then try the original operation again in Access." How do you resolve this? Im running WinXP and Office 2000. Thanks.