Lost All My E-Mail Addresses In Oe

[CW1]

Hi,
Out of nowhere, I seem to have lost half my desktop icons but also, more of a nuisance, all my Contacts in Outlook Express.
The only .wab file I can find is well old & empty, have run a Chkdsk /F from safe mode (though had to "queue" it from my account, the PC hung when I tried to select Administrator) which did clear a problem with the PC freezing a while back, but that's made no difference this time. Contacts box in View -> Layout had been unchecked but ticking that's made no difference either.
I really don't want to restore, gawd knows how far back that'd go ... :(

[furrypusscat]

Mine went from my OE but still have them on my gmail which is my main server. Is OE your only address listing. I also have mine backed up on external hard drive.

[CW1]

I don't have them on the webmail account, all that's on there are contacts I've used from there, and I WILL be backing them up on an external hard drive - if I can get them back ...

[furrypusscat]

Sorry then, my knowledge is limited. Hopefully someone will be able to help you with the right advice.

[CW1]

This is going to sound really daft, but I can't anywhere that shows me restore points or dates :(

[pinkyboyid]

What version of Windows are you using?

[CW1]

XP, pinkyboyid

[pinkyboyid]

Have you tried the info at the following link to carry out a restore point, and if so is that when you could not find any restore dates to select from?

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb457025.aspx

Also, have you checked your 'Recycle Bin' to see if any of the missing files are located there?

[CW1]

I hadn't looked at any links, pinkyboyid. I did check the recycle bin - not there.

I can't find any info on my PC about back up times etc. but I don't have a System Restore option under Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> System Tools so not sure how I'd go about doing it anyway. Don't remember seeing a Windows Advanced Options menu when I booted in safe mode earlier, but that doesn't mean it's not ! LOL Only one way to find out (!) & I really can't be r$ed now. Will come back to it tomorrow & work out what I might need to back up if I can find a way to restore not-too-far-back. If at all ! But appreciate the help ... :)