Why it happens:

http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/probl...s.htm#mailgone
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/IE/...orruption.mspx

Recovering data: http://www.oehelp.com/OETips.aspx#4
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DBXtract
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtract/Default.aspx

DBXtend (additional functionality)
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXtend/Default.aspx

DBXpress (faster, more powerful, with even greater functionality)
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

OEX (OE Enhancement Program)
http://www.oehelp.com/OEX/Default.aspx
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Avoid Such Corruption in Futu

- Don't use Inbox or Sent Items to archive messages. Move them to local
folders created for this purpose.

- Empty Deleted Items folder daily.

- Disable Background Compacting [N/A in SP2] and frequently perform a manual
compact of all OE folders while "working offline". More at
http://insideoe.tomsterdam.com/files/maintain.htm.

- WinXP SP2 only: Do not shut down your machine while Windows is
automatically compacting your message store.

- Your anti-virus application's email scanning feature can also cause such
corruption. Disable it. It provides no additional protection.

--
~Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
MS MVP-Windows (IE/OE, Shell/User, Security), Aumha.org VSOP, DTS-L.org

McJ wrote:
After closing Outlook Express earlier tonight, I got a window asking if I
wanted to compact messages. I clicked yes and it began the process, but
then hung up when it reached the Sent Items folder, possibly because I
had not cleared that out for looooonnnggg time. I wound up having to
reboot the computer, and, when it came back up...the Inbox was completely
empty. There were hundreds of messages in it before and many of the ones
from just that last few days were things I urgently needed to work on
this week.
Anyone know if there's a way for me to restore these lost messages? Can
they really be gone when I didn't delete them? Help!

JK