Help! MS Word using 95% CPU (spelling/grammar check, maybe)   

I'm using MS Word 2002 SP3 (this must be Word SP3, as my system is
running XP Pro SP2), but I have had the same bug I'm describing in
previous versions of Word.

I often read long documents (books, etc.) given to me in Word format.
I don't want to edit or do anything with the the documents, just read
them.  So I switch all spell/grammar checking OFF.  Nevertheless, in
the icon on the status bar the "moving pencil over a book" keeps
moving, indicating that background checking is still going on.  This
is confirmed when I look in the Windows "task manager", which shows
the WINWORD.EXE task grabbing 95% of CPU time.  Since I read on
laptops, this quickly exhausts my batteries, because it keeps my CPU
temperature constantly high, the fan constantly whirring, and the
performance of the system correspondingly impaired.  It's very
annoying, to say the least.  I have been searching for a solution to
this problem for years (even before Google groups I looked everywhere
else on the Web, including USENET), but no one has ever come up with a
fix.   Lots of messages about it -- lots of confusion and resignation,
too -- but no solutions.

Recently I found instructions in the MS Word Help about:
    "The proofing icon is still on the status bar even though I turned
off automatic spelling and grammar checking."
Their suggested solution is as follows:
    "When the spelling and grammar checker options are turned off, the
grammar checker continues to run to recognize smart tags. If you want
the spelling and grammar checker to be turned off, you also need to
turn off smart tags.  On the Tools menu,
- click AutoCorrect Options, and then click the Smart Tags tab.
- Clear the Label text with smart tags check box."

I did all that, too, but still no effect.  The pencil in the icon
"moving pencil over a book" keeps on moving, and WINWORD.EXE keeps
grabbing 95% of CPU time.  Terrible!

Would anyone out there with any  ideas, clues or suggestions on how to
stop this vexing problem please help!

P.S.: It also appears that Microsoft never comments on this annoying
"feature" anywhere.  Has no one ever complaned to the about this, or
are they just ignoring people's complaints/suggestions?

Thanks,
Wolfgang, CA

date: Fri, 11 Jul 2008 15:02:32 -0700 (PDT)   author:   unknown