MS Word and TLB - Delay when launcing documents from TLB

I have a problem with MS Word 97 documents (and shortcuts to them) launched from TLB. MS Word, and sometimes Explorer, will be locked for 10 seconds when all of the three following conditions are met:

- MS Word is not already running before the shortcut or document is launched from TLB
- There is a template (dot-file) in the MS Office Startup-directory (the content of the dot-file doesn't matter, it can even be empty)
- TLB is integrated in the taskbar

If MS Word is opened beforehand of launching the document (any document), this delay does not occur.
If there is no dot-file in the startup-directory (\Microsoft Office\Office\Startup), no delay.
If TLB is detached from taskbar ("standalone"), no delay.

This delay does not occur on WinXP on the same computer (the installations are completely separate, no partitions are shared between WinXP and Win2K).

I've removed every app from startup and from Run in the registry (HKLM and HKCU), and even removed some services (firewall, VNC).

...:::My System Info:::...
Windows Version: Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional version 5.0.2195 Service Pack 3
Shell Version:5.0.3502.6144
Internet Explorer Version: 5.00.3502.1000
TLB version: 2.2.0.1 (tried older versions, same result)
Microsoft Office 97, 2b