Microsoft KB Archive/278059

= OL2002: Outlook Sends an Attachment of the Referenced File Instead of a Shortcut to the File =

Article ID: 278059

Article Last Modified on 7/27/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Outlook 2002 Standard Edition

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This article was previously published under Q278059



SYMPTOMS
When you click File on the Insert menu to insert a shortcut to a file in a new message, Outlook inserts the actual file instead of the shortcut to the file.



CAUSE
This behavior occurs because Outlook substitutes the actual file instead of the shortcut to the file when you select the shortcut to insert.



WORKAROUND
To work around this behavior, create a shortcut in the form of a Universal Naming Convention (UNC) path to the file that you want to reference, and type this in your new message. The following is an example of a shortcut in a UNC path

\\X\yyy\zzz

where your computer is &quot;X&quot; (without quotation marks), the shared folder name where the file is located is &quot;yyy&quot; (without quotation marks) located on your drive C, and the filename is &quot;zzz&quot; (without quotation marks).



MORE INFORMATION
You can drag a shortcut into a new message. However, because the shortcut refers to a location on your local hard disk, the shortcut to the file cannot open the referenced file from another user's computer. The reason for this, is that the shortcut properties refer to a local path on your computer instead of a UNC compliant pathname.

If you reference a UNC path, it allows someone to access a file on your computer by using the shortcut that you sent, provided that the correct permissions are in place, that there is network connectivity, and that there is a name resolution between the two computers.

Keywords: kbprb KB278059

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