WinXP and Word 97

Hello I hope I can find a solution here. I have never seen this problem before. I am running WinXP Pro. It has all the updates.
The problem I am having is with Office 97. Whenever I start using MS Word my machine will
come to a complete halt. When I hit Con-Alt-Del Task manager shows me that WindWord.exe is
using 99% of my CPU’s power. Nothing else will function. The only way to get out of the program
is to reboot. When the PC reboot WinXP performs like nothing has happened. So far the problem only
appears in Word. I have both Office service packs installed.

My system is a P-4 1.7 gig with 512 megs of ram. a 40 gig harddrive.