Outlook: Using Hyperlinks Rather than Shortcuts to Open a File in Outlook 2002

Why doesn't Outlook 2002 include an option for inserting a shortcut to a file in a message? Outlook 2000 featured this option.

In Outlook 2002, Microsoft tightened security in attachments. Shortcuts to files are among the several dozen file types that Outlook 2002 prevents users from opening. As an alternative, Outlook 2002 lets you insert a text hyperlink to a file from the Insert menu, but only if you're creating the message in Rich Text Format (RTF).

To point to files in messages in HTML or plaintext format, you can use the syntax

file://path

where path is the full path to the file. For example, suppose you need to send a message to several people on your network. In this message, you want to include a hyperlink to a file named demo.doc in a shared folder called OurFiles on a server named FileServer. The hyperlink would be

file://\FileServerOurFilesdemo.doc

Recipients should see the file URL as a blue underlined hyperlink. They simply click the hyperlink to open the file, just as they would click an http:// link to visit a Web page.