A Small :) Problem with MS Word

For some reason when I use the MinButton in MS Word's control box, Word minimizes to the task bar rather than just shrinking to some smaller size. The only way to bring it back is to click the Maximize option in its toolbar dropdown list. How can I restore the MinButton setting to something reasonable? I assume I need to change some registry setting.

BTW, does anyone know how to use the Size option in the same dropdown list? I've never been able to do anything useful with it.

Thanks, but that much I know. When I do it however all I get is a cross-arrow icon. How do I use it?

Does anyone else have any ideas?