Paul I am familiar with the problems you describe in Word. Not sure if it is version specific - I am using Word 2000. I have found two things that sometimes help with the repeat reading - 1 Make sure the Word window is maximized - press alt and space, then press X, or arrow to maximise. 2 Make sure the Word view is normal, most documents from 3rd parties tend to be in print view. Press Alt v to go to the view menu, and select normal (first on the list). As for the time taken to launch Word, I have no ideas on this. I find if I launch Word by opening an attachment, I then have to minimise all open items and tab to Word to access the file. A bit of a nuisance, but I have got used to it. Hope this helps. Ken