I have been having this issue for awhile now and I have tried just about everything to fix it. My recycle bin looks full on my account on WinXP Pro but there are no files in there and everytime I try to empty it it gives me the same message "Are you sure you want to delete all of these files?" and it still remains full after I say yes. When I try to delete any files at all by right-clicking or moving them to the bin, they get permanently deleted and are not sent to the recycle bin, even though the "Do not send to the recycle bin, delete permanently" is unchecked. I can't even do anything people have suggested to me concering the Recycler folder because there is none present on my computer. On another user account on my computer, the bin appears empty and still premanently deletes files even though the "Do not send to recycle bin" is unchecked. I've done a Chkdsk, I've tried the restore recycle bin registry thing, and nothing has worked that I've tried from reading other threads I've come across.

Any ideas on how I can get my recycle bin to start working properly?

Hey, I'm thinking that you'll have to do some recovery console stuff here.

But there are a few questions to go over.

Do you currently have an "shredder" programs that might have hijacked recycle bin? Like Norton Utilities? Even if you don't, did you used to? Cause they can leave a corrupted Recycle Bin.

If you an put your hard drive on another machine you may be able to delete anything inside the Recycled folder on the root drive. The files are likely hidden of course. You'll have to go into Folder Properties and view hidden files and folders, also uncheck hide protected operating system files.

If you can guaranty that the Recycled folder is empty, then you may be able to do your registry recycle bin restore procedure from there.

I've had similar problems and it's usually related to a file in the bin that is super hidden or even still in use!

The permenent delete thing is weird. After doing those things, try swaping that check box, restart, then recheck it again for permenant delete. Or there is probably a stuck registry key, regardless of what the check box says.

Lastly, there could be a security thing going on. A strange admin policy or something. Make sure you don't have an "tweaking" utilites on there, check Control Panel.

If none of that helps then say what is your OS? And have you done all the usually stuff, check for viruses and spyware and such firstly?

Hope this leads you somewhere.
-v

Nope, I don't use any shredder programs, I don't use Norton, I've tried searching for viruses and spyware and came up with nothing of the sort on my computer using McAfee (unless that has anything to do with it but I've always used McAfee and I've had my computer for over 3 years now and this is the first time I've run into this bin problem). I tried the unchecking and restarting, and it still permanently deletes things. no tweaking utilities on there, No hidden files seen on in the recycler file, and I can't move my drive to another machine because I don't have another machine to move it on! :giddy: I tried registry restore on the recycle bin, unless it didn't work or I did something wrong. I am using Windows XP Pro as my OS.

Just a quick thought. That registry restore script you have. Look at what it actually changes and then go into the registry and see if it's right. Cause you might run the script but it doesn't mean it's actually saving the new settings.

The \recycler directory has "hidden" and "system" attributes set, so you don't see it in Windows unless you've selected to "Show hidden files and folders" and unselected "Hide protected operating system files" in Windows Explorer's folder options (it's in Tools menu).

Once you see the recycler directory, try this:

Rename it to something else, like recycler2. Then delete a file (create an empty text document or something, for example). Explorer should create a new \recycler directory. Then delete recycler2. Maybe this helps.

I had the exact same issue on a client's computer this evening - surprisingly, I'd never run into this issue before. Mictlantecuhtli was absolutely right, renaming the existing Recycle Bin forces Windows XP to re-create a new (properly working) Recycle Bin.

Thanks for the help!!

Regards,
Ford F150 Guy

:bounce: that's me - jumping for joy! i have been trying to solve this recycle bin issue all day. thankfully a google search brought me to this thread. renaming the recycler worked like a charm. now the items go to the recycle bin and when it's emptied the empty icon replaces the full icon.
i registered with techspot just to say thanks.
now i'm going to look for a solution for another weird problem. when a hyperlink is clicked, a new window opens but nothing appears in the window...
well, i'm off to search, thanks again for solving the recycle bin mystery.

It worked but am i supposed to have a folder called recycler with a (regular looking folder) and inside that folder a file that has the recycling bin icon??? (long file name)

Yes, that's what is used in Windows 2000 and newer with NTFS file system.

Holy s*#t. I just tried the rename recycle bin thing from {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} to "trash" within the regedit.exe program, but it didnt work at first. So then I went back to the new "trash" folder in the same area and I changed it back to the origional {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}.... refreshed.... and recycle bin worked! just thought I should put this on here in case you tried to rename it once and was about to give up. Try my new step.

Thanks for the help. This worked for me except that RECYCLER2 won't delete. And when you try to open it, it says "The disk in drive D is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

When trying to delete it always says the directory isn't empty even though it appears to be.

Anyone know how to get rid of it?

Check the partition for errors.

How do I do that?

mictlantecuhtli, thank you for your help i did what you said and took 2 min. and it fix my problem

can some one tel me if i shoul shut down my computer at night or always leave it on?
Thank you

Where do i go to post a message in this site cause i'm a bit lost lollll
Thak again

leaving your pc on for extended periods of time is not a very good idea. if you're gonna be absent from your pc, say, 1 or 2 or 3 hours, it maybe ok, but 10 or 11 hours is a bit too long. don't forget. all moving parts, (and some non-moving parts) have an "mtbf" (mean time between failure), usually measured in hours. so, the bearings on your hdd, fan, etc. will wear off.
you can overcome the hdd by putting it on sleep mode or standby (in some makes and models and operating systems).
we turn our work pc's off, when we leave. i do the same with my home pc, at night.

thank alot alidabiri we'll do ;-)

Is there a good anti virus free of charge that i can get and anti spyware to i already have AVG free edition and Microsoft anti spyware

I use AntiVir Guard, I find it way better than norton or anything like that, and I use ZoneAlarm Security Suite. Haven't had any serious problems with them.Spyware,I use a lot of utilies for that, ZoneAlarm, Spybot Search and destroy, microsoft antispyware, and spyware blaster.