Dear Patel45,

thank you for your reply - whilst you were replying I actually found the original code in my email hidden far far away and the answer is so simple that I almost feel ashamed to give it to you.

the file path:
ActiveSheet.Pictures.Insert("\\gvamdp01\images" & (Cells(I, 9).Value)).Select
was missing an \
ActiveSheet.Pictures.Insert("\\gvamdp01\images\" & (Cells(I, 9).Value)).Select

how bad is that.... i spend 2 weeks working out the problem

But thanks for your help & have a great weekend