WINDOWS folder in recycle bin

andrewjm

Senior member
Jun 7, 2002
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For some reason when i empty my recycle bin, it deletes everything in it, but the icon still shows stuff being in there. when i go to empty it again, it says folder WINDOWS is in there and asks if i wanna empty, if i say yes, it deletes everything, but the icon still shows that windows folder in there.

if i view the recycle bin, i see nothing... its just when emptying or viewing the icon is when i see this...

anyone ever seen this before?
 

LiLithTecH

Diamond Member
Jul 28, 2002
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Happens quite frequently to all versions of windows.

Just right-click on the Desktop \ Properties
Display Properties \ Desktop

In Win2k/XP click 'Customize Desktop'
choose the "Recycle Bin (empty)' icon, then 'Restore Default'

note: the Recycle Bin should be empty before doing the above

You can also delete the hidden ShellIconCache.dll file in the %SystemRoot% folder.
After deleting, reboot ans Windows will recreate the file (all versions)
 

andrewjm

Senior member
Jun 7, 2002
421
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I tried that, and it did not work...

It's not the icon that is messed up, it is the fact that is is never empty. When I empty it, it empties, makes the little empty wav sound, but it never shows the empty icon, nor gray out the empty trash option on the right click menu. If i go to empty it, it asks if i want to delete folder WINDOWS, and just cycles through this over and over...
 

waitman

Diamond Member
Oct 27, 2002
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I had a problem like that one time with a dual boot, w98se/winxp pro. If there was something that I put in the recycle bin in one os and didn't delete it and then booted to the other os. Haven't had that problem yet with just xp pro.
 

AKA

Golden Member
Oct 10, 1999
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Bring up command prompt, go to root then change directories (cd) into the recycle or recovery bin. Do directory (dir) and see if it shows anything in it.