A couple of things
a. in your message, you say that the field changes to

{includepicture "../../../documents%20and%20settings\* {mergeformat"}

That cannot be quite right as there is an extra "{" in there, but the thing
that really concerns me is that only the folder path is there, not the file
name. Is the field actually retaining the full path name including the file
name?
b. can you try inserting am INCLUDEPICTURE that uses the
"c:\\foldername\\filename.ext" type pathname on its own in a new Word 2003
document - please use a real path that points to an image - , then
- refresh the field (selct and F9)
- /check/ the box I suggested
- save the document. Does the pathname change to the "../../" type
pathname? Here, it definitely does.
- undo the change (if any) and refresh the field again
- uncheck the field I mentioned
- save the document. Does the pathname change? Here, it does not
- if nothing has changed, close and reopen the document. Has the path
changed? here, it does not.

If the behaviour is the same as it is here then it suggests that the
checkbox I mentioned does have an impact, and you should try recreating your
Word 2000 document by starting from a fresh Word 2003 document to see if
that makes any difference.

If you still see the problem, then there must be another factor. I can't
think what it might be at the moment, but at least we will know.

Peter Jamieson

"garycahn" wrote in message
oups.com...
I unchecked the box you suggested, but it had no effect on my problem.
Word is still changing my directory path and file name when I hit the
save key.

Gary Cahn