Broken Links in 2000 vs. 2003

[jbell]

Hi Folks,

I've created a document in Word 2000 with automatic links to a file of
graphic images stored on the C: drive of the same computer. Opening the Word
document automatically loads the correct images in the correct places.

I'm trying to allow another user to use my document on his computer that is
running Word 2003. When he opens the document the images do not load, even
though the "Update automatic links at open" box is checked in the
Tools/Options/General menu. Pressing F9 to force an update doesn't work and
neither does going to Edit/Links and clicking the Update button.

Am I correct in assuming this is a 2000 vs 2003 problem? Do any of you fine
folks have any alternative ideas of what may be going wrong?

Thanks,

 

[macropod]

Hi jbell,

Unless the absolute path to the images is exactly the same on both machines, Word won't be able to update the links on the other PC.

If the images are kept in the same folder as the document, or in a folder closely related to it, there is a way of getting Word to
use relative paths for the links. To see how, check out the solution I've posted at:
http://www.wopr.com/index.php?showtopic=670027

 

[jbell]

Hi Mac,

Thanks very much for your thoughts on the problem and the link to that very
informative thread.

After reading through all the information, I took another look at the links
I created in Word2000 and found that they were already using the \\..\\
method you suggested. Takes me back to the old DOS days when that technique
was in common use, but I havent seen it in ages. Interesting that Microsoft
chose to keep that shortcut in subsequent versions of Windows.

But I digress....

After seeing the \\..\\ in the pathname I decided to use find/replace and
replace all the instances of \\..\\ with a direct path to the C: drive by
name in as much as that is where the image files will always be stored on any
users PC. It seems to work just fine now in both Word2000 and 2003. Certainly
not as slick as your relative addressing scheme, but now I don't have to be
concerned about how many layers (and \\..\\'s) I need to go through depending
on where other users store the document.

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
--
Jim Bell

Hi jbell,

Unless the absolute path to the images is exactly the same on both machines, Word won't be able to update the links on the other PC.

If the images are kept in the same folder as the document, or in a folder closely related to it, there is a way of getting Word to
use relative paths for the links. To see how, check out the solution I've posted at:
http://www.wopr.com/index.php?showtopic=670027

--
Cheers
macropod
[Microsoft MVP - Word]

Hi Folks,

I've created a document in Word 2000 with automatic links to a file of
graphic images stored on the C: drive of the same computer. Opening the Word
document automatically loads the correct images in the correct places.

I'm trying to allow another user to use my document on his computer that is
running Word 2003. When he opens the document the images do not load, even
though the "Update automatic links at open" box is checked in the
Tools/Options/General menu. Pressing F9 to force an update doesn't work and
neither does going to Edit/Links and clicking the Update button.

Am I correct in assuming this is a 2000 vs 2003 problem? Do any of you fine
folks have any alternative ideas of what may be going wrong?

Thanks,

.