but when I used Word XP (2002), I could see that links in Word documents had to be invoked by pressing CTRL then clicking the link.
Is that perhaps the problem? Are you holding down the CTRL key for any reason? Even so, I don't see why doing that would close Word. That is a mystery.
Mark
Hi, I have Win XP sp2, IE7 and Word97 (yes I know it's old). I have a very long doc with lots of web addresses in it that I use to copy and paste my answers into internet forums. Sometimes when I'm trying to select a section to copy I must be clicking in the wrong spot or double clicking or click the wrong way and it directly opens the web page AND CLOSES my word document. And I can't get back to it and have to reopen it. Why is that?

Chowhound
Comic Vine
GameFAQs
GameSpot
Giant Bomb
TechRepublic