Recycle bin appears empty but is not

I deleted a PILE of files and directories using the delete key & confirm; "Are you sure you want to send these 127 items to the Recycle bin?" Ans: "Yes" . . . OOPS. No I really did not want to do that. But when I go to the recycle bin, it appears empty. I know that they are there, somewhere. But I cannot retrieve them. Please help me see these files and directories so that I can restore them. I have been on the "http://support.microsoft.com/" site w/o any luck. Thanks.

Hi,
Sorry to hear of the problem with your Recycle Bin.

There are a number of things that can produce this problem.
If you go here:

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_qr.htm#rb

You will find a complete run through of the steps you need to consider.

Kelly is a Microsoft MVP so you will find the site provides authoritative information.
Regards
paws

I went to his site & attempted to perform "Step 1": I do not have a virtual drive. Step 2: I went to the "Files Do Not Show Up in Recycle Bin When Deleted" link ============= RESOLUTION Administrators should have ownership of the Recycled directory. To take ownership of the directory, perform the following: 1. Log on as Administrator. 2. Using Windows Explorer, locate the directory and select Properties/Ownership. 3. Use the option to Take Ownership of the directory. 4. Restore default permissions to the directory with the permissions option. ============= However, I was unable to locate the "Properties/Ownership" tab. (See "Directory_Properties.JPG" attached) I am the sole user on this machine. [i.e. I AM the admin] But I did use the "Restore Default" button on the Target tab. Step 3: I followed the section: "If the above didn't help:" ============== If the above didn't help: Files not being listed in the Recycle Bin seem to be related to a corrupt info2 file. To correct the issue (Fat32): Go to Start/Run and type in CMD: Type CD \RECYCLED, and then press ENTER. ============== But I cannot locate the recycle bin, either in the start default dir shown: "C:\Documents and settings\Admin" OR on the root dir: C:\ (See "CMD.JPG" attached) Hence, I am still stuck!

Hi Ok, thanks for the information. Please post back and indicate what format you have for your hard drive, (system partition) Fat 32 or NTFS.? Are you running Norton anti virus? Regards paws

I am running XP

Anti Virus: Avast

Also running: Adaware SE, Spybot, Winwash

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

I read farther on:
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_qr.htm#rb
to find:

===================
To Recover Files in NTFS:
http://forums.tomcoyote.org/style_images/m…s/textcolor.gif
Text Color
Click Start, Run and enter %systemdrive%\Recycler. Under this folder you'll see sub folders with names like:
S-1-5-21-1085031214-854245398-1060284298-1003
===================

And low and behold PRESTO, I found MY dir to be:
S-1-5-21-790525478-1767777339-682003330-1004
close enough.

and YUP, there are my files. YAY!!

BUT!

I have had this problem on this machine ever since I have had the machine, more than 2 years. Sometimes I CAN see what is in the recycle bin & sometimes I cannot. Mostly, I cannot. I read the site stating: "Files not being listed in the Recycle Bin seem to be related to a corrupt info2 file." However, I cannot FIND my INFO2 file.

Now, every file & dir I delete, IS visible in the recycle bin.

1-Also, why is this an intermittent problem?
2-And how do I prevent this from happening again?

Thank you for your assistance.

I found that this problem happens when using "Window Washer" or any type of cleaner that "scrubs" the recycle bin. I had a fix somewhere, I'll see if I can get my hands on it. I haven't used it in a long time and it may be in an unaccessible hard drive at the moment on an old machine. I'll try to dig around and see if I can come up with it. The logic behind the problem is that Windows gets confused because the entire contents of the recycle bin are removed including an important ini file which actually tells Windows which specific ID (path and folder name) is used for this particular user. Each user on the computer has a specific string and so this string needs to be recorded in the ini file. With the disappearance of this file the association of Recycler/Recycled and its user-specific string gets erased resulting in a "broken" recycle bin. In any case, I've found that not using the auto scrub functions in Window Washer actually eliminates the problem. But the fix (a simple reg file to merge which restores the association) is still required to get it back to working right. Will post back if I can find it. Edit - I think I was mistaken, it wasn't a reg file… but it was an ini file. The above info still holds though.

I think this will work right click and save as on 64 to the right

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_tweaks.htm

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
@="Recycle Bin"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
@="Recycle Bin"
"InfoTip"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,32,00,32,00,39,00,31,00,35,00,00,00
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000060
"IntroText"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,33,00,31,00,37,00,34,00,38,00,00,00
"LocalizedString"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,\
6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,\
00,5c,00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,\
2c,00,2d,00,38,00,39,00,36,00,34,00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,31,00,00,\
00
"Empty"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,31,\
00,00,00
"Full"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,32,\
00,00,00

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\InProcServer32]
@="shell32.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Classes\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000040

Yup. Just before I opened your reply, I guessed that it WAS Winwash. Thank you. And TY for the registry fix. Thank you for your support, time and assistance. Bon Fortune! Pete