Patent ID: 8504634

Claim:
An e-mail management system comprising: one or more computer processors; an e-mail data retrieval manager executing in the one or more computer processors and configured to access metadata associated with a first set of e-mail messages representative of a first state of the e-mail management system; and an e-mail browser configured to display: the metadata associated with the first set of e-mail messages as part of a first message list; a first folder hierarchy of the e-mail management system representative of the first state of the e-mail management system, wherein a user can select a subfolder of the first folder hierarchy in which to search for email messages; an input box allowing a user to provide an indication of a past point in time; wherein, in response to the user providing the indication of the past point in time, the e-mail data retrieval manager is further configured to: access metadata associated with a second set of e-mail messages and representative of a second state of the e-mail management system at the past point in time; and generate a second message list for display by the e-mail browser and including the metadata associated with the second set of e-mail messages; wherein at least some of the e-mail messages in the first and second sets have attachments associated therewith, the metadata associated with the first and second sets including indicators as to the presence of the attachments, the email management system being configured to store the metadata associated with the first and second sets in a separate storage device from the attachments associated with the first and second sets, and to access the attachments after specific request by the user.