Hi Peter,
That suggests a fault in your Word 2010 installation. Try repairing the Office installation (via Programs & Features > Microsoft Office > Change in the Windows Control Panel). If that doesn't fix things, try the approaches suggested here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921541
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/AppErrors/...artingWord.htm and
http://lounge.windowssecrets.com/ind...owtopic=197827
for various series of troubleshooting steps that will help you track down (and hopefully solve) the problem.