In Win98SE after emptying the deleted items folder, I can search for "deleted items" and then drag them to the recycle bin and empty. In WinXP (my son's PC) we can't seem to do this. When we search for "deleted items" it cannot be found. Does this mean that when we empty the deleted items box in Outlook Express in XP that they are completely erased from the computer? Seems strange to us!!! I'm sure someone will be able to answer this puzzling question for us. Many thanks, Jan.