i think what he means by the "www root" folder is the directory where your project is.. for example:
here is my website.. it is in C:\websites\codenewbie
the files in this folder are:
index.html
num.html
contact.html
then i have another directory in this folder called "images":
images
so on my "www root" folder in this case will be C:\websites\codenewbie .. ***Any images on your site must be INSIDE your "www root" folder.
If the image is within your www root directory (or sub-directory - images), then i can make a "relative" path... ie:
<img src=images/picture.jpg>
the address "images/picture.jpg" is relative to your www root folder cause it is inside of it.
lets say you put your image on your desktop .. then the image path could not be relative cause it's not inside... then your image embed tag might look like this:
<img src=C:\Documents and Settings\MeMe\Desktop\picture.jpg>
this is probably the type of thing that was happening for you cause your image was outside your www root directory.
does this make sense?