when attempting to open it from it's desktop icon (.exe) MS Word throws out an hourglass that seems to last forever then reports an illeg oper error , however when executing an already created Word document the program opens quickly with no hesitation or errors.
user had 2 separate instances of Word running on her system, one within MS Works Suite and the other within MS Office 2000.
uninstalled both and reinstalled MS Office, and same problem exists and now a registration error is reported and app will not open from it'a exe. However it still opens when spawned from the opening of an existing .doc.
does this need a registry clean or fix?  

i would try the word sppt page:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/word/support/2000.htm

you can find solutions to common errors here:

http://search.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/zdhelp/zdhelp/search.html?Utext=Word+error+messages&Uhcat=Microsoft+Office&b=tipzone&Utiptype=

or perhaps here:

http://desktoppub.about.com/cs/word/

if all else fails, there's always the bible:

http://www.microsoft.com/mspress/books/2054.asp

Hey dude if you're still having this problem with MS Word ::)
execute the file and when the illegal operation pops up then click onto the details button and highlight the message eror and send a copy of it to me and I can find problem for you and then send you the solution also if you have access to technet then run the first two lines of the error message in technet and I'm sure that you will find a solution to the problem there if you dont send me a copy of the error then I've seen that before but cant put my fingers on the fix right now though  ::)

ever consider a full format and re-install?  May fix many-a-problem.