If you use Office 2003 and installed the updates released over the last couple of days and are now experiencing problems, try uninstalling this update: http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=908531

Among the symptoms are the inability to open files using the File, Open menu (or save using File, Save) and "Word is unavailable..." error message when it's set as the email editor.

For resolution, see http://support.microsoft.com/kb/918165

Note: Older versions of Office may be affected. See KB 918165 for all cases.

To uninstall the patch, go to Control Panel, Add and Remove Programs. Click the Update field at the top of the dialog and look for the update identified with "908531" near the bottom of the list of applications.