You say the cursor "keeps blinking," but do you really mean that it is
showing the hour glass and that cursor image is spinning? If that is
what you mean, yes, it appears to be trying to activate/install
something. Since this is a recent problem, chances are you installed
something that has added an "add in" to work with Word, but it's not
working correctly.
To test this theory, you can try opening Word by hitting Windows + R
button to activate the Run dialog box. In that, type:
winword.exe /a
That will run Word without calling up any addins. If that fixes the
problem...then an addin is the problem. In that case, see this
TechTrax article for details on how to fix the problem.
Add-ins...One of Word's Most Common Problems
http://pubs.logicalexpressions.com/Pub0009/LPMArticle.asp?ID=282
Good luck!
Dian D. Chapman
Technical Consultant, Microsoft MVP
MOS Certified Instructor, Editor/TechTrax Ezine
Tech Editor for Word & Office 2007 Bibles
https://mvp.support.microsoft.com/profile/Dian.Chapman
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http://www.mousetrax.com/techcourses.html