cross references and hyperlinks within autoshape text disappear

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RaminI'm working in word 2003 and have a 170 page document that has a few
flow charts in it. I created the flow charts using autoshapes and added text
to them and within that text I added hyperlinks and cross references - note:
the destinations are all within the same document. For the purposes of this
discussion, whenever I say "link" I mean either a hyperlink / bookmark or a
cross reference.

After working on other sections of the doc, I go back to the flow charts and
notice that some or all of the links disappear randomly from the autoshape
text. Note that I have many other links witihin normal text (i.e. outside
the drawing canvas) that always work fine.

Additionally, within the affected autoshapes (i.e. those whose links
disappeared), I cannot create a new link- as soon as I create it, the link
disappears. However, I can create new link within the autoshapes that were
not affected (i.e. the shapes whose links did not disappear).

Furthermore, if I copy an unaffected autoshape and paste it, the link
disappears in the new copy. The same thing happens if I copy and paste the
entire canvas - in the pasted copy some or all links from all the shapes in
that canvas disappear.

I've tried creating new autoshapes, and adding the links again. But
sometimes the links stay, but mostly they disappear as soon as I create them.
Regardless after working on the doc for a while they all seem to disappear
eventually.

I also noticed that if I copy the entire text from an affected autoshape and
paste it into an unaffected autoshape, the hyperlink shows up. But the
reverse is not true. If I copy text from an unaffected autoshape to an
affected autoshape, the link disappears.

The flow charts I'm working on, are not very usable without links so I would
appreciate any tips/help that you could provide.

Best Regards,