Windows 7: Outlook 2003 Opens New messages in full screen

I had originally posted this in the MS Office section but it has not been resolved and thus reposting in this section since it is an e-mail program issue. I have Office 2003 Pro.

Up until about a month ago, when I would open a new/forward/reply message it would always open in a reduced size screen. Now those same functions always open in a full screen window. I suspect either an office update or possibly some add on or a Windows Live application has caused this. But, I've uninstalled Live appls, etc and nothing seems to affect it. I've also deleted all the copies of "normal.dot" and that didn't do anything. Resizing the window works OK until Outlook is closed, and the next time it's opened it's back to the full screens. The Outlook program does not open full screen, it opens in the smaller size screen as it's always done.

I know it has to do with Word as I have the option set to use MS Word as the default to edit e-mail messages. If I uncheck that, then the screens open in the "usual" smaller size, however I then lose the spell checking and the other features that Word provides.

I don't have a System Restore point that goes back far enough. One of my Acronis True Image full disk backups does probably go back far enough, but I don't want to use that unless it's absolutely needed due to other changes/additions since that backup.

I have Vista 32 bit on a separate hard drive (dual boot with Win 7) with Office 2003 and Outlook opens in the smaller size windows. I've tried comparing and can't seem to see anything that is causing it. However, the Vista system does not have the Windows Live appls that my Win 7 system does and that may also be a clue (but as noted I've uninstalled the Live add-ins and appls, rebooted the PC, and it didn't make any difference).

Thanks/Jack