Word 2007 crashes upon copy cells in table

[Oak Park]

Here is tha failure sequence:

Open a new blank document
Insert a table with, say, 6 rows
Type some word or text in 3 consecutive cells, down
Select the cells with KB or mouse
Select copy with KB or mouse
Word crashes and offers to recover the file. The recovered file still works.

Does not happen if I first save the blank file as a .doc (word 97-2003) file.

Am a power user of many years standing. But am new to Vista
Enterprise/Office 2007. This is a brand new clean build.

Driving me nuts.