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Recycle Bin Icon White, Won't Empty
Hi,
My Recycle Bin icon shows as a white rectangle and I'm not able to empty it.
Thoughts?
Hi,
My Recycle Bin icon shows as a white rectangle and I'm not able to empty it.
Thoughts?
I tried running an elevated command prompt with
rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin
But it says "the system cannot find the file specified"
Can I delete the corrupt recycle bin and have Windows give me a new one after a restart?
Is this safe to do?
How can I get to the Recycle Bin folder to delete it?
I'm getting kind of desperate.
Sometimes when I get frustrated with this kind of problem, I make bad decisions.
Somebody help please.
Try this:
rd /s /q %systemdrive%\$RECYCLE.BIN
Other than that try PC Hunter
Download PC Hunter - MajorGeeks
On the file expand each drive and choose the option to force delete recycle bin for each.
When done exit the program and refresh desktop (by right clicking on a blank area and choosing refesh option)
Then reboot.
Callender,
Thanks so much for the help!
I copied and pasted the command prompt you offered and still got the message
"the system cannot find the file specified"
Then I downloaded PC Hunter.
After expanding the C drive under the File tab, I don't see the recycle bin listed.
I do have my File Folders option set to show hidden files.
Any suggestions?
Thank s
You need to do the same for all drives if you have additional drives other than C drive. Then you need to refresh desktop and reboot.
Other suggestions:
Rebuild icon cache: How to Rebuild the Icon Cache in Windows
See Option One in the tutorial linked above.
Also try this:
How to Change, Remove, or Restore the Shortcut Arrow Overlay Icon in Windows
Use Option Three Step 4 - download No_Shortcut_Arrow.reg and follow the instructions. If anything is overlaying your recycle bin icon this should fix it.
you can try assassin tool for deletion
Malwarebytes | FileASSASSIN - Free Software to Delete Locked Files
I personally would start with something simple.
SFC /SCANNOW using cmd. prompt.
This tutorial by Brink will guide you.
SFC /SCANNOW Command - System File Checker
Jack
First I would like to thank all of you for taking the time and effort to help me.
I tried all the various suggestions and nothing helped.
In desperation, I downloaded CCleaner.
I paid for the professional version.
I believe you get what you pay for and if someone took the time to design software that is helpful, they should be compensated.
I ran all the various cleaning tools and after a reboot, my normal looking Recycle Bin was back!
It was now empty.
I put something in it and clicked on Empty Recycle Bin at the top of the window.
Nothing happened.
I right clicked on the item and selected delete and it disappeared into the universe!
So I'm going to call this 95% solved.
Maybe with this information, one of you can figure out what actually fixed it.
Thanks again for your help.
Right click recycle bin icon and check settings there. Can't figure out why Ccleaner fixed it.
EDIT:
RE: PC Hunter. It's a portable program so you can just delete the folder if not required.
Last edited by Callender; 27 Feb 2017 at 19:00. Reason: add info