I am attempting to format a report document with three section breaks.
I am trying to fix the document so that the first section (cover
page)has no pagination, the second section (table of contents) has no
pagination, with pagination beginning on the first page of the 3rd
section (in other words, this page will appear as "page 1" rather than
as "Page 3"). How do I set the page breaks to achieve this effect and
be able to send one document. I am using Ms Word 2000 (9.0)

This answer is a little different than the others that have been
posted to other messageboards but it's worked for me. Click
"View-->Header and Footer" and then go to the footer part. Type this
below but DO NOT put the braces in manually. Push CTRL-F9 every time
you see a brace in the expression below, because this is a special
argument.

{ if { page } > 2 { = {page} - 2 } }

I've provided a sample word file to show you what it looks like done.
Push Alt-F9 to switch between the scripting and what will print out
(you can see only from page 3 and on it will start the page numbering
from 1 up).


Additional Links:

Sample Word file:
http://www.christopherwu.net/google_answers/pagebreak.doc


If this seems too complicated, just use the sample file I provided,
it's blank.

skermit-ga

Or do it the simple way:
First, delete the existing page number from the header or footer.
Then, move the insertion point (ie click somewhere in) the third
section, the one where numbering is to start.
Open the header/footer as appropriate.
Here's the good bit:
Make sure the header/footer is NOT linked to the previous section,
that is, it is NOT "same as previous"
Insert your page number
Select the page number, and with the format settings, set this to
start at page 1, not follow on from previous sections.

May sound complex, but it is really only about 10 mouse clicks - it
will also be immune to weirdness like if the second page content
suddenly has to be expanded and takes up another page.

Excuse if these instructions are a bit general - I don't use W2000,
indeed, I am a Macophile.  The concept is valid however.

Also - cruise along to www.mvps.org.  A brilliant dedicated group who
provide the type of support that M$ should.

xarqi is right, this is the easier way to do it.  I do use Word 2000,
so here are the specifics:
1.Go to the section you want to number
2. Click View->Header and Footer from the menu bar
3. On the tool bar that comes up, click on the icon with a hand
holding a page with a # on it.  The Tool Tip that comes up if you
hover over the button says "Format Page Number".  A dialog box will
open.
4. In the third section of the box is an option for Page numbering. 
Be sure to choose "start at" rather than "continue from previous
section".  Tell it what page number to start at and you are set.

This does not require a set number of pages prior to numbering as the
other solution offered does.