Please Help - Recycle Bin Not Working Properly

[Guest]

I am troubleshooting a PC for a friend that is behaving very strangely. The
recycle bin icon shows it is not empty, however when I open the folder, it
shows 0 objects. When any files are deleted, they do not show up in the
recycle bin. Also, every time I choose to empty the recycle bin it asks "Are
you sure you want to delete these 3 items?". The recycle bin seems to be
stuck with these 3 ghost files, even after the recycle bin is emptied.

Any advise on a solution would be appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Nevermind. I fixed this problem with a fix from a previous post suggested by
Michael Cecil on 12-20-04 (see copied fix below)...THANKS! The recycle bin
is working perfectly now.

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How many hard drives do you have and what file system(s) do they use?

Assuming you're using NTFS you could do the following procedure to nuke
your recycle bin and force it to start fresh but you'll lose any pretty
icons you might see associated with them in Explorer. IOW, the Recycler
folder will look just like any other folder. I doubt it will work if you
have any sort of Norton Recycle Bin Protected Files Doodah Doodah
installed however. (Standard disclaimers apply - if your computer melts,
your cat explodes, etc. don't blame me. I've done this before and it
worked for me.)

1. Open a command prompt window first.
2. Open taskmanager and end the explorer process. The taskbar should
vanish.
3. In the command prompt type:
rmdir /s c:\recycler
where c: is the drive and press <enter>. If it prompts you, answer yes to
deleting the folder or files. Repeat this for all your hard drives, if
you have more than one.
4. When finished type:
explorer
and press <enter>. You should get back your taskbar.

Try deleting some files and see if the desktop Recycle Bin icon works as
expected.

 

[WTC]

I am troubleshooting a PC for a friend that is behaving very strangely.
The
recycle bin icon shows it is not empty, however when I open the folder, it
shows 0 objects. When any files are deleted, they do not show up in the
recycle bin. Also, every time I choose to empty the recycle bin it asks
"Are
you sure you want to delete these 3 items?". The recycle bin seems to be
stuck with these 3 ghost files, even after the recycle bin is emptied.

Any advise on a solution would be appreciated.

If the Recycle bin is corrupted or cannot be emptied:
Click Start and then Run.
Type 'cmd'
Type 'attrib c:\recycler -h -s' and then ENTER.
Type 'del c:\recycler' and then ENTER.
Type 'exit' and then ENTER.
Reboot the system.

NOTE: Do not include the quotation marks in the type commands.