Copy to Wordpad Problem

Good Day All !!
I have Windows 98, IE Version 6, and use Outlook Express as my mail program. I wanted to copy some instructions to Wordpad, highlighted the portion to be copied, right-clicked and clicked “copy”, opened Wordpad, clicked on the body of the blank wordpad and right clicked,,clicked on “paste” However the document was not copied onto Wordpad.
Any tips?
Thanks
Steve