Recycle bin

[Derek]

I keep having trouble empting the recycle bin in the boot partition.
Only way to do it is to take ownership of the recycle.bin icon in C,
then type 'rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin' in a elevated command prompt.

Haven't had any problems with other partitions and external drives. I've
done a chkdsk and it doesn't find any errors.


Using Win7 Ultimate x64 on a 500GB Seagate SATA-II 3.0Gb/s disk drive.

 

[Wolf K]

I keep having trouble empting the recycle bin in the boot partition.
Only way to do it is to take ownership of the recycle.bin icon in C,
then type 'rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin' in a elevated command prompt.

Haven't had any problems with other partitions and external drives. I've
done a chkdsk and it doesn't find any errors.


Using Win7 Ultimate x64 on a 500GB Seagate SATA-II 3.0Gb/s disk drive.

CCleaner. Free. Cleans up trash files, too. Can erase data, too.

Wolf K.

 

[Dave-UK]

I keep having trouble empting the recycle bin in the boot partition.
Only way to do it is to take ownership of the recycle.bin icon in C,
then type 'rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin' in a elevated command prompt.

Haven't had any problems with other partitions and external drives. I've
done a chkdsk and it doesn't find any errors.


Using Win7 Ultimate x64 on a 500GB Seagate SATA-II 3.0Gb/s disk drive.

This might help (1st item on list):
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_file_and_folder_diag/en-us

 

[Peter Jason]

CCleaner. Free. Cleans up trash files, too. Can erase data, too.

Wolf K.

I have the latest CCleaner, but I haven't found a way for it to delete
registry entries (such as USBSTOR). Is there some way to do this with
CCleaner. I can get it to delete various log files in windows - but
the registry sees immune.
Peter

 

[Wolf K]

I have the latest CCleaner, but I haven't found a way for it to delete
registry entries (such as USBSTOR). Is there some way to do this with
CCleaner. I can get it to delete various log files in windows - but
the registry sees immune.
Peter

CCleaner's Registry Cleaner is "conservative", ie, safe. Run it, reboot,
and see if that fixes the problem.

USBSTOR is AIUI a hardware key. CCleaner won't AFAIK get rid of obsolete
hardware references. The reason (I surmise) is that deciding which
hardware keys are obsolete requires data that isn't in the registry
itself. I mean, you know that a given USBSTOR key is obsolete or
incorrect, but how could the software know? I'm afraid such keys must be
removed by hand. You could, I suppose, remove all USBSTOR references,
power down and reboot and let Win7 "find new hardware" and create new
registry keys. I've never done that, so don't take this suggestion too
seriously, leastways not without other advice.

By contrast, obsolete references to software are easy: if software is
current, then there are keys in certain places. If those keys are
missing, then any other keys referring to that software are redundant
and can be removed.

FWIW, I run the registry cleaner about once every couple of months, more
often if I've been trying out software.

I hope this answer is at least partly relevant. Good luck.
Wolf K.

 

[Dex]

This might help (1st item on list):
http://support.microsoft.com/mats/windows_file_and_folder_diag/en-us

It doesn't work, says 'thanks for running automated troubleshooter, we
did not detect any problems and no fixes were applied'.

I can't see the files in explorer, when I right click the recycle bin
the empty recycle option is greyed out. Most other programs don't see
the files either.

Only way I know there are files in the bin is during a malware scan or,
if they are fragmented, a defrag program.

 

[Dave-UK]

It doesn't work, says 'thanks for running automated troubleshooter, we
did not detect any problems and no fixes were applied'.

I can't see the files in explorer, when I right click the recycle bin
the empty recycle option is greyed out. Most other programs don't see
the files either.

Only way I know there are files in the bin is during a malware scan or,
if they are fragmented, a defrag program.

I'm assuming you are the Original Poster, and you say you are
having trouble emptying the bin. When the bin is empty what
happens when you create a test file and delete it ? Does the bin's
icon change and does the bin's context menu change ?

 

[Dex]

I'm assuming you are the Original Poster, and you say you are
having trouble emptying the bin. When the bin is empty what happens when
you create a test file and delete it ? Does the bin's icon change and
does the bin's context menu change ?

Yes.

Most of the time any files sent there act normally. After a while,
mainly during a weekly malware scan, I notice it scanning lots of
recycle bin files. So it is something I cant reproduce at will.

Most files that I do delete are from what Sandboxie create when I'm
trying some new program, so it could be something to do with that.

 

[Dave-UK]

Yes.

Most of the time any files sent there act normally. After a while,
mainly during a weekly malware scan, I notice it scanning lots of
recycle bin files. So it is something I cant reproduce at will.

Most files that I do delete are from what Sandboxie create when I'm
trying some new program, so it could be something to do with that.

Well, it seems to be related to whatever anti-malware program you run
or this Sandboxie thing. I used to scan for malware on a regular basis but
don't bother at all these days.
I've never felt the need for Sandboxie either.
I also install and remove programs a lot and I use Total Uninstall to
monitor what goes on during an install. I know there are free alternatives
but I'm used to this prog and find it works well.