getting info from the hard drive

Can anyone tell me if I can retrieve IM messages and emails from the hard drive.

 

Welcome to MG. What IM are you using? Have you reformatted your HD or has it crashed so you cannot access your emails? What Internet provider are you using? We need as much info as you can provide to help provide a solution. Bazza

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Using yahoo messager. No it hasn't been reformatted, it hasn't crashed. The internet provider is Charter Comm. Really the reason for the question is my friends husband has changed his passwords and has been very secret on what he has been doing and acting very strange. Everytime she walks behind him he'll close the screen. I did provide her a way to see future ones. I just don't know how to get to the previous ones. She's concerned because of the children.
Thanks