recycle bin problem

[bhome83]

i have posted this problem before but still haven't figured it out. I have this problem of when i empty my recycle bin it always says (look at attachment). had this problem for a while and just want to know how to fix it. if i right click the recycle bin and go to explore it shows nothing in the recycle bin but i still get this message when emptying it. any ideas? I don't want to switch accounts on my computer. just want to know if there is maybe some way of deleting the recycle bin and then maybe it will recreat itself.

[reboot]

Make a blank .txt file in notepad, save it, then delete it so it's in the bin.
Restart in SAFE MODE, and empty the recycle bin.
Restart.

[bhome83]

didn't work. i made a blank .txt file called blank.txt. i deleted it so it was in the recycle bin. restarted in safe mode and emptied recycle bin, (got same message). restarted computer got same message. damn, this problem has being going on forever. anyone think i have a virus of some sort? isn't there a way to delete my recycle bin? thanks anyways for the help.

[TwoRails]

Hi bhome83,

Sure sounds like a corrupted file to me. I use Norton Navigator as my file manager, as it doesn't have the restrictions as Windows Explorer does. I just go to that directory and delete everything in it.

If you don't have a separate file manager than can do this, go into DOS, go to that directory, and do a DIR listing to see what's there. You'll probably find some gobbly-gook, and that's what you want to delete. Should be able to in DOS.

HTH

TwoRails

[bhome83]

ok so when im in dos i do what? I typed DIR and it shows me C:/ drive. how do i show my F drive? and how do i get to the recycle bin? thanks.

[TwoRails]

Hi bhome83,

Once in DOS, you should be able to type:


cd f:\
cd recycled
dir


to get there.

cd = change directory, so use the correct path to get to the right place if the above doesn't work.

HTH

TwoRails

edit: see correct version below.....

[bhome83]

can't figure this out. i type it in but it stays in c directory. im tying cd f:\ but still stays in c directory.

[TwoRails]

Hi bhome83,

Oppps, sorry... I musta been more tired than I though. It should read:


f:
cd \recycled
dir

I tested the above on my machine.

TwoRails

[bhome83]

ok i got into the f: drive. not sure where the recycle bin is. i typed what you have there and i looked in the drive and nothing there says recycler or anything.

[TwoRails]

All my recycle bins are under the Root directory of the drive(s) in a folder / directory named "recycled" -- So, once in the drive you want, 'F' in this case, then:

cd \recycled

should work.

TwoRails

[bhome83]

well mine is called "recycler". so i got into the F:\recycler which the command prompt shows. what do i do now? thanks.

[TwoRails]

Hmmmm, that's interesting.... Are the rest of the recycle bins on the other drives all called the same??

Anyway, once there, use the

dir

command to list all the files there. This is just to see what's there. Then you just delete the file(s). You can simple use:

del *.*

to delete all the files, or

del filename.ext

to delete the specific file(s) with the name(s) you type in.

TwoRails

[bhome83]

ok now when i do 'dir' it says file not found. doesn't make sense becuz when i go to my f drive the recycler folder isn't there, but when i type in F:/recycler the folder shows up with nothing in it. it's like the folder is hidden but the command prompt doesn't recognize the folder. the c drive is the same way. i have to go now, but will get back on this issue. thanks for helping out two rails.

[TwoRails]

Hi bhome83,

Just to make sure we're both on the same page, I took a screen shot of going thru the steps.

f: got me to the 'f' drive from 'g' drive.
cd \recycled changed me to the recycled directory.
dir listed everything there, which is nothing 'cause it's empty.

I had to go into a DOS window, 'cause it wouldn't let me take a screen shot of it in DOS mode...

Does your steps look like this??

TwoRails

[TwoRails]

Another thing you can do, is just confirm the name of the recycle bin while in DOS.

Try this:

f: to get to 'f' drive
cd \ to go to the root directory
dir rec*.* /ad to list everything that starts with rec. Note the switch "/ad", this tells the dir command to list the directories instead of the files.

What do you have now??

I attached another screen shot showing the above...

TwoRails

[bhome83]

ok here is what i got. and it says 'file not found'. what does that mean?

[bhome83]

and here is the screenshot to confirm what the name of my bin is:

[TwoRails]

Originally posted by bhome83 ok here is what i got. and it says 'file not found'. what does that mean?

Hi bhome83,

That means there aren't any files there. But a picture is worth a lot of words. What I would do now is to do the same thing, but cycle thru all the Drives and Recycler directories until I found one that had one or more files, then delete those files.

If, by chance, that doesn't work, I'd do a file search for that file. Use cut-n-paste of the file name if possible.

I also checked out MS's support site and didn't find anything.

The file name in your first screen shot sure does look like a corrupted file.

My last idea would be to use a DOS startup disk from a prior version of Windows, like Win 98.2 to look in the Recycler directoies.

TwoRails

[Tuf]

The original file looks to be on another drive or something linked to the internet. Search for that file and rename it , anything you want. Call it Bob.jpg or something simple. Then delete it. I think the reason it can't find it is because it is not on your computer. But most likely a link to streaming media or someone's attempt at keeping you from saving something from the web.