The global template file is normal.dotm, and is typically found in c:\users\[username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates

Word writes to the global template whenever changes are made to your defaults and preferences in word. The problem your seeing is typically caused by an add-in that is not working properly.

Did you have Norton Antivirus installed prior to upgrading to Office 2010? This is the most common culprit. If so, you'll want to disable the Office plug-in within the Norton options.

If you don't have Norton installed, try running word with the /a command-line. This will prevent the automatic launching of all add-ins and templates. If everything works properly in this mode, then you'll want to disable all COM Add-ins until you find the offending one.

If none of these work, you may have a corrupt normal.dotm. Delete it from the above path and let Word create a new one.

Hope this helps.

-SW