Where do my emails go when I delete the contence of my deleted email
folder? There aren't in the recycle bin. Where do old emails go in the
"sent"and how can I retieve them. Microsoft's "Restore " does not
bring them back.

Hello,
I would to try to help you, but there are a few important details that
you have left out.  Are you using a POP3 account or an IMAP account? 
Which email program are you using?

Assuming that you are using a POP3 account with Outlook Express, when
you download an email it is automatically deleted from the server. 
Then when you delete it on your home computer, the pointer to the
space were the email existed on your hard drive is deleted.  It is the
same thing as shift deleting a file, or cleaning your recycle bin.

If you want to try to get those lost emails back, then the Restore
feature is not what you should be looking at whatsoever.  The Restore
feature is there so if important registry entries are changed then
they can be restored.  If you want to retrieve the lost emails, then
you will need a program which will find pointerless documents on your
hard drive.  They normally cost money, and you might not be able to
find all of a file, or you might only be able to find a few of the
emails.

I hope that this helps.

Thank you, your answer is most helpful. Your assumptions about the
configuration of my system are correct. I now understand more about
Outlook express. Furthermore it occured to me that the email addressie
that I was searching for in the deleted folder can be found in my
"sent" folder. What command or menu in Outlook Express determines how
long sent emails are kept?