I have windows xp

:....
(lol, thats not my problem)
anyways, everytime i open kazaa, internet explorer, or word, i get a process that eats up massive amounts of RAM (usually 50 megs or so), and its REALLY annoying. In word it opens RANDOM items for no reason, like itll create a thing to draw a line, or it'll go to file while i'm typing, or it'll initiate the microsoft speech setup (or sumtimes it'll go straight into microsoft speech while i'm on the phone and itll just start typing), when i'm on internet explorer it slows down my computer ALOT.
any help as to what it is or how i can get rid of it would be greatly appreciated...