Link to file across network drives – missing link

[Chris V]

I am trying to ‘link to file’ across network drives within Word 2002. Once
the image is linked it appears fine but when I update the link, the image
disappears showing only the place holder. The images update properly when
they are located on the same drive as the Word doc.

Another thing I notice is that occasionally the source file path is listed
with backslashes instead of the much more common forward slash but in any
case the link across drives does not update.

I have not been able to find any info regarding this and have been
struggling with it for quite sometime now. I would appreciate any input as to
why this might be happening or if it’s just a limitation within Word.

Thanks.

 

[Chris V]

After a few days and hours with MS support it was concluded that images can
not be linked into Word documents (2002 and 2003) when the Word doc is on a
different network drive than the images. You can see why when viewing the
paths to the links, the relative paths don't resolve properly.

The solution, a work around, is to copy the Word doc to your local drive
(images remain on the network drive) and do your linking there, save, move
the Word doc to the network drive of your choice.

I hope this helps someone else.

Additional Resources:

=====================

Relative hyperlinks are not saved correctly in Office XP (813914)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;813914



A red X character appears when you paste a linked image in Office 2003
(825772)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;825772



You cannot update a linked image when you click Update Now in Word 2003
(825773)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;825773



How to create absolute hyperlinks and relative hyperlinks in Word 2003
documents (903163)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;903163