You should back up your email files along with the rest of your system. If you are having difficulties with your email, it may be necessary to reinstall Outlook Express. Before you do so, it is especially important to back up your email files because the installation process will delete them from the directory where they are currently stored. To delete then reload your email files, follow these steps:

1. Determine where your email files are stored.
2. Copy the email files to another directory using Windows Explorer.
3. Delete the files in the directory where they were originally stored.
4. Reinstall Outlook Express.
5. Copy the email files back to the directory where they were originally stored.