Porkribs

Hi there people,
Had Vista not too long ago, been using it fine for the past few months.
All of a sudden Start Search is no longer working for office. When I type in
winword or word, Microsoft Office Word does not appear.
However if I try wordpad or media player, it brings up the entry on the
start menu.
I am a bit hesitant to uninstall and reinstall Office as I use Outlook as my
emailing program.

Anyone had a similar issue before?
Thanks in advance