IE is not an Office application, so this is a strange place to ask.
In most versions of IE in most operating systems, if you leave the
Folder pane showing when you close IE, then it will be showing when
you open IE again.
Dosn't that suit you?
If not, try a repost with more detail to an IE group.
IE6/OE6 newsgroups.
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6.browser
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6.setup
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress
news://msnews.microsoft.com/microsoft.public.windows.inetexplorer.ie6_outlookexpress.stationery
....Alan