To try to fix a misbehaving Windows 8 PC, I performed the 'Keep My Files' recovery option that removes certain apps. The recovery took away Windows Live Mail and several thousand emails with it. After the reboot, I discovered that my File History back-ups had not stored the emails, and I can no longer reinstall Windows Live Mail to try to find them because WLM is no longer supported by, or downloadable from, Microsoft.

My question is, with the Windows Live Mail program itself seemingly gone forever from my hard drive, have I also lost all the emails that were contained within in? I have seen plenty of solutions for recovering lost/deleted emails and their storage folders, but they only work if you're able to open Windows Live Mail.

Any and all help appreciated!