The following applies to Outlook Express on Windows 98-XP. You will find it much the same for other email programmes.

Backup Emails
When you backup your work you should also include your emails if they contain important information. Each program has it's own folder/file which stores your email. In Outlook Express that folder is buried deep in about 7 layers of folders so it is easier to change where the emails are stored so you can find them quickly when doing a backup.
To do this

• Create a new folder in My Documents (or anywhere you like) and call it Mail
• Open Outlook Express
• Click on the Tools menu then click on Options at the bottom
• In the pop up box, click the Maintenance Tab
• Click the Store Folder button - you may get a dialog box telling you where your current store location is, Click Change
• Navigate to your new Mail folder and Click OK

Backup Address Book
This applies to Outlook Express but there is probably a similar feature in other email programmes.

• Open Outlook Express and click the icon for your address book (at the top) to open your address book
• Click on the File menu in the address book and then hover over Export...
• Click on Address Book

Restore Email
To restore email when using Outlook Express, after a loss, you can't just put the backed up file or folder back in it's original place, you have to "Import" the emails through the File menu and following a wizard. In Outlook Express this doesn't always seem to work.

There is a neat program called dbXtract which will extract the emails from the backed up file and save them as individual eml files. This used to be freeware but now costs $5.

Restore Address Book
Similar to the backing up. Open your address book in Outlook Express and click the File menu, Hover over Import and then click on Address Book. Navigate to where you saved the copy.

Handy email programs
So none of the above worked and you can't get your email back. Well you can still get to it with OE Viewer.