TSGL: Outlook Express auto stores needed email

[EDLYNN]

I use XPPro/sp2.  OE6, impolitely, and without instruction from me, moves my basically UNREAD message into a storage file (subfolder) which I was able to finally locate. The rub: I can't open it to get my email, even though Outlook Express led me to the folder and was itself open at the time. A right click yielded an 'open with' where I selected OE. Nothing happened. I tried other possible 'open withs' but only got a scrambled tiny box format of an unconverted optical message.

Now I am really stuck. I need those emails, and I learned that this main folder contained many other sub folders with email that I never knew existed, but just figured that some people just didn't love me anymore:)

Kidding aside, I don;t know how long it has been going on.

A few questions:
1. How did the "auto snatch" happen? 
( Is it called "mailnapping"?)
2. How can I stop it, like real pronto?
3. How can I retrieve my snatched mail in readable condition?
4. One of the right-click choices was to set up an OutlookExpress LIBRARY. I never heard of that one before.
5. Can I get these emails back to my active OE folders?

BTW, PROPERTIES shows a read-only attribute.

My Firewall is active; all anti-virus is up-to-date; I've passed the AdAware, Spybot, and Win Defender tests.

HELP, someone?

Thanks.  ED