Sounds like your default template is being overwritten, this sometimes happens - mainly on Work Machines! If Word sees the standard Template as being corrupt - or if it gets renamed or deleted (sometimes Anti-Virus sees that it has been changed and so deletes it) - Then Word creates a new template using the factory default settings! (the bugger!)

A sort-of fix is:

• Open Word
• Close the open document (leaving word open)
• File > Open
• Change Files of type to Document Templates (*.dot)
• Navigate the open Dialogue to C:\Documents and Settings\**YOUR USERNAME**\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates
• Open Normal.dot (check that it says Normal.dot - Microsoft Word in the document name at the top of Word)
• Set all the options you want in your document
• Save
• Go to the Default Template folder
• Copy the Normal.dot template and save to somewhere you will remember

Next time your settings seem to have disappeared:

• Close Word
• Go to your saved copy
• Right-click and Copy
• Go to C:\Documents and Settings\**YOUR USERNAME**\Application Data\Microsoft\Templates (You could even create a shortcut to the folder in the same place that you keep your backup Template to make it quicker to get to!)
• Paste (Yes to overwrite)
• Open Word

As you see, not really a fix, as such, but it does the job!