''My computer stops responding while I'm typing a Word document.'' Any background task could cause this behavior but I found an interesting one today; his Word Autorecover was looking for a network location that no longer existed. The quick way to check your Word settings is ''Tools > Options > File Locations''. I found the problem by searching the registry for ''\\''. This alerted me to several outdated network locations in paths. Cleaning up old networked printers and other non-existent network paths can avoid delays and slow response.

Update: I've noticed this entry getting a lot of hits so here's some more info. Some of my other customers have had a slow Word response and the cause was their anti-virus software slowly checking for viruses in Word. I fixed the problem on several occasions by disabling the 'Microsoft Office Plugin' in Norton Antivirus. There are several versions out there and it may not be limited to Norton's products, so you'll need to dig into the configuration/settings of your product or use the help tools to find out where to turn off this feature. Good luck.