In that case, you will have the best chance of a recovery with this tool:

DBXpress. Use it running in disk mode:
http://www.oehelp.com/DBXpress/Default.aspx

A general warning to avoid losing mail in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.

Backup often:

Backup and Resto

http://www.insideoutlookexpress.com/backup/

http://www.oehelp.com/backup.aspx

http://www.oehelp.com/OEBackup/Default.aspx
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"john pearce" wrote in message
...
Many thanks Bruce. I followed your instructions but nothing appears in the
*exact* name folder when I re-open OE. Any further thoughts.

I realise now that I was not precise enough about my original question -
the
folder names have not disappeared from OE but their contents have. Judging
by
the file sizes the contents all seem to be in the DBX files.

Before I created a folder with the same name as the folder dragged to the
Desktop, I deleted the old folder of the same name from OE.
--
john pearce


"Bruce Hagen" wrote:

First, make sure they aren't in Deleted Items. Next, see if the dbx files
for the folders still exist and that the size of the files indicate they
have messages in them. If they do, you will have to do this for each
missing
folder:

ToolsOptionsMaintenanceStore folder will reveal the location
of your Outlook Express files. Press the Tab key to highlight the folder
location, then Ctrl+C. Close OE, then StartRunCtrl+V will put the
location
in the box - Click OK and you'll see the OE files. Otherwise, write the
location down and navigate to it in Windows Explorer.

In WindowsXP, 2K & 3K, the OE user files (DBX and WAB) are by default
marked as hidden. To view these files in Explorer, you must enable
Show Hidden Files and Folders under StartControl PanelFolder
OptionsView.

In Windows Explorer, click on the dbx file and drag it to the Desktop.
Open
OE and create a folder with the *exact* same name as the one on your
desktop. ***Copy a message from any folder to the new one. You MUST do
this.*** Close OE. Go back to Windows Explorer and Click Desktop and drag
the folder from the Desktop to the OE store folder that you clicked on to
reveal the .dbx files. Prompt - "Do you want to overwrite......."? Click
Yes.

A general warning if you don't want to lose your messages in the futu

Do not archive mail in default OE folders. They will eventually become
corrupted. Create your own user defined folders for storing mail and move
your mail to them. Empty Deleted Items folder regularly. Keep user
created
folders under 100MB, and Default folders as empty as is feasible.
--
Bruce Hagen
MS MVP - Outlook Express
~IB-CA~

"john pearce" wrote in message
...
I have recently lost 15 sub-flder from 4 main folders. ANy ideas why and
how
to recover?
--
john pearce