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My Recycle Bin icon is on the Desktop but when opened it has none of the normal Recycle Bin functions (e.g. "Empty Recycle Bin") there is just "Organise".

Here is some more info:

  • If I delete something, it just deletes permanently.
  • If I go to the Recycle Bin properties, there are no drives in the list.
  • Everything in the properties window is greyed out except "Display delete confirmation dialog".
  • If I delete $Recycle.Bin, it does not regenerate on reboot like it should.
  • If I restore $Recycle.Bin to it's normal state, the Recycle Bin still does not function.

There is nothing on the internet about this problem. I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium Edition.

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  • Do you have any programs such as disk managers, antiviruses, license managers that could interfere with the operating system? I guess you've already tried with a system restore point. Jan 20, 2013 at 19:37
  • @Pincopallino Not that I can think of. Also I can't do a System Restore because I have no idea when it started and also my computer for some reason does not create System Restore Points. Jan 20, 2013 at 19:57
  • Try running chkdsk /f and sfc /scannow from an elevated command prompt. Also check if the Recycle Bin works properly for other user accounts (create a new one to test if you have only one account currently active).
    – Karan
    Jan 20, 2013 at 20:48
  • @Karan I tried chkdsk /f and it said it would test on next restart. I also tried sfc /scannow and it gave me a log file which I can't make any sense of. I've pasted it here if it means anything to you: [gist.github.com/1aaec02ce4176a768219] Jan 20, 2013 at 21:27
  • How do you "restore $Recycle.Bin to it's normal state" without using the recycle bin?
    – Ali
    Jan 20, 2013 at 21:56

1 Answer 1

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This forum thread is about a problem very similar to yours even if on Windows XP. The user found the problem to be virus-related. In particular, they found that it was related to the following registry key

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer\NoRecycleFiles

Please check that the value is set to 0, and make a scan with an antivirus, possibily in safe mode.

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  • I was aware of this fix but that key doesn't exist in my registry for some reason. Jan 21, 2013 at 17:33
  • Probably it is not created until the setting is not changed, so this might not be the solution to the problem, even if it would be worth trying to create the key manually. I'd also run a scan with an antivirus software. Jan 21, 2013 at 18:20
  • I have scanned the computer with two Antivirus programs and the first did find a file in the Recycle Bin folder but removing it and restarting did nothing. Jan 21, 2013 at 18:22
  • So this might indeed be a virus related problem. Did you try @Karan suggestion? Create a new user account to see if the recycle bin is working for the new user Jan 21, 2013 at 18:42
  • I just tried that suggestion and it seems the Recycle Bin works fine on another user account. Jan 21, 2013 at 18:51

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