This method needs more preparation and is more involved than the other methods but it is completely free.
You may need to resort to it when you have no access to Adobe Acrobat and the methods that have
been suggested to create compliant PDF in the form of PDF/A compliance lack the flexibility to set all necessary
configuration options.
This method consists of two steps
- Converting the Word file to postscript using a postscript printer driver
- Converting the postscript file to pdf using GSView and ghostscript
Convert the Word file to postscript using a postscript printer driver
First you need to install a postscript printer driver. The steps are more or less the same under Windows XP or Vista.
Go to Control Panel/Printers and right-click to open Add Printer. Choose Local Printer and Print to File.
Select a suitable postscript printer, for instance the HP Laserjet 8000 Series PS.
Do not set this as your default printer.
After completing your document, go to File, Print (Word 2003) or Office button, Print, Print (Word 2007).
Select the postscript printer that you installed, check "Print to file" and click on OK.
Save the file with a .ps extension, for instance as mypaper.ps.
Convert the postscript file to pdf using GSView and ghostscript
For this step you need to have GSView
together with an appropriate version of ghostscript installed.
Their installation is straightforward.
The screenshots below are for GSView 4.6.
After opening the postscript file in GSView, the first step is to set the media size to Letter.
To do this, in the GSview menu bar at the top click on "Media" and select Letter as shown below:
Next, click on "File | Convert". In the ensuing window, click on "Properties",
then follow the four screenshots below:

This option makes sure that the files will be viewable by readers with Acrobat Reader 5 and higher.

Type '100' (without the quotes) into the Value box. This sets MaxSubsetPct to 100.
These three settings ensure that all fonts are embedded as required.
Click on OK to close the Properties window and again on OK to start the conversion to pdf.