>all * FILELIST files have disappeared from it's disks. Hence, if I do an
>INDEX, I get a 'LISTSERV FILELIST not found' error message, as well as
>being unable to recover files from the VM-UTIL filelist set up here.
 
sounds like you put the * FILELIST files onto the 'D' disk - the scratch
area of LISTSERV. Nothing should be put onto this disk of listserv, otherwise
things vanish.
-turgut