When double clicking word document it will not launch

"I had exactly this problem and here's my solution:

Open Explorer.
Click Tools > Folder Options...
Click the File Types tab.
Scroll down to the file extension of the affected program (in this case, doc).
Select the desired file extension and click the Advanced button. This will open the Edit File Type dialog box.
Select the Open option, then click Edit...
Find the line ""Application used to perform action"". Scroll to the end of the path (for example, my computer lists C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office12\WINWORD.EXE"" /n).
Look for a switch labeled /dde at the end of the path.
Delete /dde and type ""%1"" (including quotes) at the end of the path.
Clear the ""Use DDE"" option.
Click OK, then OK again.
Double-click on the desired file. It should launch quickly.

If this works, you'll need to repeat this process for each file extension handled by Word. It's a pain in the neck, but it fixed my problem. Good luck!"