Did you download and install the 9.17 beta version of 7-Zip? It has the VHD option.
When you open the backup folder (see NOTE at this link), be sure to open the largest VHD file listed. When the VHD is open in 7-Zip, it's just like looking through normal files and folders. Here are some example screenshots from opening my backup folder using 7-Zip to help.
EDIT:
In addition:
System Image - Extract Files Using Disk Management
Thanks Shawn. I tried what you suggested (downloading the later version of 7Zip) and have copied and replaced a file entitled Mail.MSMessageStore which can't be open by Windows. Could this be the problem, or will this just contain the files I had before? (I closed down and restarted WLM and no extra files have appeared). Any advice greatly appreciated. Thanks again for all your help.
Yep, that will not work. You will need to find and extract the actual .eml files as shown in the post above (clicky). Once you extracted the .eml files from the VHD backup to your desktop, you can then copy them into a message folder of your choice in the C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail folder.
Thanks Shawn, though pardon my ignorance, where should I be looking for these .eml files using the VHD? On my PC HD or external HD? Sorry, I'm getting very confused!
Was this a system image backup or a user files backup that you made?
If system image, then in the opened VHD in 7-Zip, you would navigate to the same C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live Mail folder location to select and open a email account folder (left screenshot). Afterwards, you would open one of the message folders (right screenshot) to see the .eml files in it. The screenshots below are an example of this for my Cableone email account and it's message folders.
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