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23585
June 6th, 2018 09:00
How do I delete hidden files in the recycle bin?
I purchased my Dell XPS 8920 in July, 2017. I just discovered that I have 649 MB (330 folders, 808 files) in my $Recycle.bin folder. I am not a computer newbie, I'm a retired computer programmer who is fairly proficient with all versions of Windows as well as DOS. I've tried the following, all without being able to delete a single byte:
Windows 10/1803: Unhide everything, change the security of the recycle bin so that everyone has all privileges, delete the folder, delete sub folders, delete files, all without any success.
CMD mode under Windows (as Administrator): attrib $Recycle.Bin -h -s -r -a *.* /s /q, rmdir C:\$Recycle.Bin /s /q, del C:\$Recycle.Bin\*.* /s /q, all I get is ACCESS DENIED no matter what I try.
Note that I also have a 4-year old XPS which also had a couple of MB of hidden files in the recycle bin. The above steps completely cleared it out!
If these are Dell support files, I don't want them and have deleted every support folder supplied by Dell a LONG time ago. So . . . can anyone tell me how to completely clear my recycle bin?
Thanks, Bill
BMullin
25 Posts
0
June 7th, 2018 11:00
Hello Fireberd,
Nothing in your link resolved my problem, although SFC did tell me that I had some bad system files and they were repaired. Unfortunately none of these were in the Recycle bin.
I did fix the problem is a sorta dangerous way. Using my backup program Acronis ATI-2018, I backed up everything while excluding the recycle bin. Then I restored the entire drive using the Acronis bootable rescue disk. It took less than 30 minutes overall and my recycle bin is now truly empty.
Thanks, Bill
fireberd
9 Legend
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33.4K Posts
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June 6th, 2018 13:00
Look at this tutorial from the tenforums.com May be the issue with yours.
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/94946-fix-corrupted-recycle-bin-windows.html
Just a general comment, I don't delete files in the Recycle bin. I've had to go back and retrieve files several times. Also 1 or 2 gigs of data is relatively nothing with the size of modern drives. (I'm an old NASA programmer).
fireberd
9 Legend
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33.4K Posts
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June 7th, 2018 12:00
There is always a "way" to get around something. Base on the corrupted files, I would suspect some unrecoverable corruption was also in the recycle bin.
I've had to reimage a drive with an older image to fix things, too.
Jack
CoreyCork
3 Posts
0
June 13th, 2018 10:00
You need to change it status to viewed and to delete.
sn00pyguy
1 Message
1
June 18th, 2018 06:00
On the root of c:\ delete the file $recycle.bin.
To do this Uncheck hide protected operating system files. Control Panel/programs and features/tools tab/folder options/view.
Check to see if you reclaimed the disk space. Property the C:\ drive.
Recheck hide protected operating system files
djc1309
1 Rookie
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8 Posts
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August 21st, 2019 05:00