Hmm - it shoudld (or used to) present you with a box asking whether you want to break the link: I'll bet it's still storing the info even though it's showing the picture.

I must be getting old, these new versions and their newfangled ways [creak]

>Robert,
>
>>In the case of linked OLE objects (BMP's or whatever) Word retains the link but also embeds a display image (usually WMF I think) into the document, plus control information
>
>Hmmmm...curious...in my Word 97, if the actual BMP is missing (deleted by mistake or moved), I get a bit ugly box - not actual "borken link" message.
>
>> if you open a .DOC file with a hex editor you can even see the file names.
>thanks...I was hopeing that Word would let me see it, but couldn't see it.
>
>J