The "Microsoft Word" button on the task bar blinks an orange color sometimes.
Why does this happen?
It usually means that there's a dialog hidden behind the main window,
and you can't do anything in Word until you complete that dialog. This
bug seems to happen most often when Word 2002 has been started from
the QuickLaunch bar next to the Start button.
When it happens, try minimizing and restoring the Word window. That
should bring the dialog to the front so you can dismiss it.