i just had to format and reinstall windows. before doing so, i copied the
entire contents of my application data/microsoft/outlook express folder,
assuming that if i just replaced the new folder with this one, all my
messages would be saved. unfortunately this didn't work.

i intstalled windows, and IE 5.5/outlook express 5. i was able to restore my
address book, but none of my old messages. when i tried importing old
messages, it only gave me the option of importing from outlook express 4 or
6. i chose 4, browsed to the outlook express folder i had backed up, and it
did restore a bunch of old messages that i assume were from when i still used
IE/outlook express 4. no option for outlook express 5. so i figured if i
updated to IE/OE 6, then i would have the option to import from OE 5. but
this didn't work, i still only have the choice of 4 or 6.

so any messages in my mailbox created under OE 5 seem to be gone. is there
any way i can recover these or import them in to my new mailbox?