MS Office Hangs when opening files

I recently upgraded my subscription to Symantic’s Antivirus and Internet Security on my XP Pro which is running XP Office for Small Business. Shortly after I installed the upgrade, everytime I attempt to open a file from the drop down arrow the system just hangs. It does this in Excel, Word, Outlook, etc. I can open a file directly, but not when I attempt to open a file from the drop down arrow?? It must have something to do with the anti virus software searching my entire drive?? However, the early version without the firewall never had this problem. All the files are on my local drive…not a network drive.

Please help before I go crazy..