I don't have Word 2000 any more, but I don't remember such a problem when I was using it.
Please use Word's ¶ button (looks like the greek capital letter Pi) to display the characters you have at the end of the paragraphs. They should all look like ¶ (Pi) if they are end-of-paragraphs.
If the problem is caused by a macro or a plugin, you can check this hypothesis by disabling them :
Go to the Tools menu and select "Macro". In the new sub-menu select "Security". Go to the "Security level" and select "High" : Only signed macros from trusted sources are now allowed to run.
Now in the "trusted sources" tab remove all items (if any), and uncheck the box "Trust all installed add-ins and templates".
Yes, they exactly look like you're described. I was very surprised by this behavior. I think it can be related to the notion that any table copying intended for usage for a spreadsheet software that sometimes doesn't like multi-line texts – Maksee – 2010-09-13T12:54:19.037
Pretty weird behavior. Is this a vanilla Word 2000, or have you added macros/plugins? If not, then the only remark I can add is that this doesn't happen in Word 2007. – harrymc – 2010-09-13T13:26:30.680
I can't be absolutely sure about special global macros. Also found another way to test it. Create a table, type some text containing paragraphs, copy the text, go outside the table, do Paste Special-unformatted text, mine newly inserted doesn't contain breaks. – Maksee – 2010-09-13T13:56:29.370
I've added above a way to verify macros and add-ins. – harrymc – 2010-09-13T14:25:06.503
Sorry, didn't help. The settings were all as you wrote, except the checkbox and unchecking didn't help. +1 for your attention – Maksee – 2010-09-13T14:43:05.257
This behavior is therefore proper to Word 2000. Then, sorry, the only solution I can offer is to upgrade Word. If you are worried about the Ribbon and other new stupidities, there are always free third-party solutions. – harrymc – 2010-09-13T15:51:18.907