Many thanks to Maurice N ~ MVP and others who steered me toward the
workaround at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/918165
I'm happy to report my Office 2003 applications are now working normally
alongside my HP Precisionscan Pro 3.1 software.
However, one problem remains and it has to do with the HP software update
for Office 2003.
The HP update named col5319.exe adds Microsoft Office 2003 applications to
the "Send To" list of destinations for a scan. This update now fails. Any
ideas would be appreciated.
Thanks for your time and energy!