SOLVED Recycle bin not holding items

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I wish I was more savvy with little things like this, but I'm not so sorry for the occasional silly question.
When I delete something, I can't recover it from the recycle bin because my recycle bin is always empty. Have I changed a setting or something to make things delete permanently rather than hold in the recycle bin for confirmation?

Cheers
 

TrainableMan

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There is also a maximum folder size in those properties; if this is set too small then there is no room to store them.
 
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uh-oh
I seem to have a bit of a problem here, I went into properties like Andsome suggested and the bin location is set to CODEMETER (G: ) which is only 38.5meg large (hence the reason files larger than this were not being stored), this CODEMETER is actually a dongle for software I use.
I have tried numerous times to change the bin location to my C and E drive (1 terrabyte each), I hit apply and ok, try deleting something and it does not show up. Going back into properties I see it will not change from the dongle G: drive! I tried a few times and it seems stuck
Any ideas?
 

TrainableMan

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Every drive has a recycle bin for it's information. When you look you should see C: and G: plus any other drives that are installed excluding CD/DVD.

During a delete, nothing from C: will be stored to G: or visa versa, in fact nothing is ever actually moved at all; there is simply a pointer stored in the recycly bin and deleted from the folder where it had been.

When you open the recycle Bin properties you need to select the drives individually to manage them. Simply click the C: in the list.
 
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Well, so if I delete something from my desktop - it should show up in the recycle bin on the same desktop... It doesn't seem to be working, it is definately set to "custom size" rather than the do not use recycle bin option.. I set it to 3000MB and deleted an image from my desktop - nowhere to be seen :/
 
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I just noticed something, if I have the recycle bin physically open, it will store deleted items. If I close it and re open it - they are gone...
 

TrainableMan

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The Recycle Bin icon should actually show you a combined picture of ALL pointers on all the drives. 3000MB is just 3GB, for a 1TB drive I have a total of 50GB split between both partitions.

Do you use any Folder hiding software? I found one mention of an relation with Recycle Bin not showing and a product called "Winmend Folder Hidden".

Is there any chance your shift key is sticking? Shift+delete removes it without sending it to the Recycle Bin. Right-click on Recycle Bin properties and make sure the delete confirmation box is checked - if the delete message says "permanently" deleted then it will NOT go to recycle Bin.
 
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Yes I understand the issue with the size limit I set, 3000meg was just to attempt to allow an image to go through, once we get it to work I will set each to 1TB and break out the old del*.* :)
I dont have any file hiding programs or anything like that, the only thing remotely abnormal I have is Virtual Clone Drive.
It is pretty straight forward but I included this image anyway:

 
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I noticed the settings above are for the CodeMeter drive.

If you select Local Disk (C: ), what settings are selected? Each drive can have their own settings.
 

davehc

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The default configuration of the Recycle Bin is, I think, 10% of the total capacity it's associated drive.
If the Recycle Bin fills up to maximum capacity, the oldest files will be deleted in order to accommodate the newly deleted files. If a file is too large for the Recycle Bin, the user will normally be prompted to permanently delete the file instead. I can't see why this is not happening for you.

Perhaps resetting all the recycle biun to it's defaults might do the trick? Like this:


1. Right-click on Desktop and select "Personalize"., and click on "Change desktop icons" link in left-side pane.
2. Select "Recycle Bin (full)" icon from the icons list and click on "Change Icon" button
3. It'll automatically select the correct default "Full Recycle Bin" icon, but click on it to re-select it and then click on OK button:
4. Repeat this for the "Recycle Bin (empty)" icon.

Now "Apply" and see if it is working correctly..
 
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I noticed the settings above are for the CodeMeter drive.

If you select Local Disk (C: ), what settings are selected? Each drive can have their own settings.
I have C drive and D drive, and both are set to different numbers because C is a larger drive than D.:)
 
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Thanks Davehc but it did not work. When selecting the "change icon" option for the full bin it hung for some time, and I do have a freezing issue...
Please help if you can anyone, as I do rename items a lot and delete is right under "rename" when right clicking :eek:
 
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Hello Jimmy_Banana, Try resetting the Recycle Bin ..

Sometimes the Recycle Bin can become corrupted and prevent you from deleting files from it (or emptying it). By following a few simple steps, you can give full functionality to your Recycle Bin.

First, you need to be able to view hidden files and folders as well as protected operating system files. To do this:

1. Click the Orb (Start button).

2. Select Computer.

3. Press the Alt button on your keyboard to get the Menu to appear.

4. Click Tools and select Folder Options.

5. Select the View tab.

6. Under Hidden files and folders, make sure the Show hidden files and folders radio button is selected. Make sure the Hide protected operating system files checkbox is unchecked.



8. Click OK.

Now you’re ready to work on the Recycle Bin.

1. Select your C:\ drive (if your PC is running more than one OS, select the drive That Windows 7 was installed on).

2. Find $Recycle.Bin.

3. Delete $Recycle.Bin by right-clicking the file and selecting Delete.

4. When asked if you want to permanently delete this folder, click Yes.

5. When asked to confirm the action, click the Continue button.

6. When the UAC prompt appears, click the Continue button.

7. When asked if you want to permanently delete this folder, click Yes.

8. The Delete File dialog will appear, check the Do this for all current items checkbox and click the Yes button. By clicking the checkbox, you will avoid having to confirm the deletion of each file.

After the deletion process has completed, restart your computer. When the system has restarted, the Recycle Bin will be fully functional once again. You can now go back to Folder Options and return the viewing of hidden files to their default settings.

Source .. Windows 7: How To Reset The Recycle Bin
 
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TrainableMan

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Jimmy could you provide your system specs please.
Make & Model # of your computer.
Graphics Card
Memory

Did it come with W7 pre-installed or did you upgrade? If you upgraded what did you upgrade from and did you do a fresh install or the Vista upgrade install?
I think you mentioned it before but is it Home Premium 32-bit or what?

Also did I read your OS drive is only 55GB? Is that an SSD or why is it so small? Do you have a page file on that drive?

You are having way too many performance issues. If this is a brand new pre-installed machine I personally think I would return it. If you did the upgrade path that could explain it - You should do a fresh install.
 
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Perhaps you could try setting Recycle Bin to remove files immediately and reboot to finalize settings. Then after you log back in, setup Recycle Bin to store your files once again.

I have had luck with other features this way by disabling and re-enabling them. This seems to force a reset of the features configuration.

I can't say for sure it will work but worth a try.
 
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I can not begin to explain the fear I am facing right now.
I have followed ETALMAR's steps ending in a reboot, only to make my wondows look like they are from Windows 98, oh yeah - there is also NOTHING on my desktop except a recycle bin. I had thousands of hours work on my desktop for easy access which right now I am not allowed access to. At the very least I can use the "restore to previous version right"? I can not access even internet explorer! Windows live requested an update upon restart so I will update what is happening in a few minutes.
Please dont leave me hanging here, I am in the middle of an assignment and I have multiple favourites saved in IE!
 

TrainableMan

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Reboot and hit F4 before Windows starts. Pick Restore with last known good configuration.
 
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If you decide to run system restore as an option, here's how to do that ..

Control Panel
Recovery
Open System Restore

Select a recovery image date that, to your recollection, was before any of the recycle bin issues started to occur. That should get your desktop back to its original state.
 
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