Point Recycle Bin to another drive

Brink · 31 Dec 2010

This can help give more details on the Recycle Bin in Windows. Be sure to only reference the parts related to Windows 7.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recycle_Bin_(Windows)

GWT · 01 Jan 2011

logicearth said:

No file is written to the C: drive when you delete a file on D: or vise versa.

So where does the deleted file go in D?

And can it later be recovered?

logicearth · 01 Jan 2011

GWT said:

logicearth said:

No file is written to the C: drive when you delete a file on D: or vise versa.

So where does the deleted file go in D?

And can it later be recovered?

It doesn't go any where. The file stays put. The MFT is updated to show it was deleted and set to appear in D:\$RECYCLE.BIN\[USER_SID_FOLDER_NAME] if the file was deleted on the D: drive. There is no write operation on the file itself.

GWT · 01 Jan 2011

logicearth said:

The MFT is updated to show it was deleted and set to appear in D:\$RECYCLE.BIN\[USER_SID_FOLDER_NAME] if the file was deleted on the D: drive. There is no write operation on the file itself.

Ok that's what I needed to know. Thanks!

Next question. Will the recycle bin on my desktop (located on C:\) show the contents of what's located in D:\$RECYCLE.BIN\[USER_SID_FOLDER_NAME] ?

Brink · 01 Jan 2011

GWT,

Yes it will.

When you delete a file, the file is only marked as deleted on that internal drive and is still actually stored on the same HDD. Any file deleted from any internal drive will now be listed in that specific drive's $RECYCLE.BIN file and also referenced/listed in the main Recyle Bin on your desktop. Only when you empty the Recyle Bin will it free the HDD space used by the file it was deleted from.

GWT · 01 Jan 2011

Brink said:

GWT,

Yes it will.

When you delete a file, the file is only marked as deleted on that internal drive and is still actually stored on the same HDD. Any file deleted from any internal drive will now be listed in that specific drive's $RECYCLE.BIN file and also referenced/listed in the main Recyle Bin on your desktop. Only when you empty the Recyle Bin will it free the HDD space used by the file it was deleted from.

So the bottom line is I technically have two recycle bins, the contents of which don't cross over from one drive (or drive bin) to the other. Correct?

And that they both share the one Recycle Bin icon on the desktop. Correct?

Brink · 01 Jan 2011

I'm not sure it's possible to make it any more basic, but.....

Yes, you have only the one Recycle Bin on the desktop that shows you all of the deleted files in the $RECYCLE.BIN file of each drive.

The deleted files themselves are not stored in the Recycle Bin. They are still stored on their drive just as they were before being deleted until you empty the Recycle Bin. After emptying the Recycle Bin they are permanently gone and removed to free up space on the HDD that you deleted it from.