Recycle Bin Problems...

[aryae21]

Lately I've been cleaning out my computer, a lot. Old program files, duplicate pictures and videos, old back ups. Well I go to empty my recycle bin and it seems it's so full it wont even delete. I can't even see the contents I just get a endless green ribbon of death. Right clicking to empty it does nothing. Literally nothing. It simply sits there. I probably have over 2 million (Yes that's 2 million, don't judge me Lol.) items in there. I've tried restoring the files so I can use the Shift Delete option, but they never show. I tried entering into the hidden $Recycle.bin folder but that doesn't work either. I even got a small little program called RecycleNOW which also, just sat there and did nothing. ( http://bluefive.pair.com/recyclenow.htm ) I'm at a loss of how to delete these files. From now on I have it set to automatically delete or I use a Batch file I created for large folders to prevent this happening again, but I can't get to the items already in the recycle bin. Any suggestions/assistance?

 

[kenrivers]

Try CCleaner from Piriform (http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner) and see if that helps. There is an option to empty the recycle bin. This program also has an option to wipe free space (deletes pointers to files you have deleted and programs you have uninstalled). How much hard drive free space do you have?

 

[aryae21]

I'm downloading the program as I type this, will edit with results later.
I actually running on two hard drives in my computer. I also have a external hard drive I use for back ups, and about a bunch of various flash drives. The hard drives within my computer are as follows: Solid state 7.23GB Free of 74.5 (I use this for windows installation and favorite programs) Second hard drive: 525GB Free of 919GB. I use this one for everything else. Pictures, movies, other programs. Etc.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

You can always empty the recycle bin from the command line: rd /s %systemdrive%\$Recycle.bin

Just keep in mind that this command empties the recycle bins for ALL users.

 

[aryae21]

It seems CCleaner isn't working. It just sits at 0% even when I left it for several hours and over night. The code you provided ex_bubblehead, worked... I think. It deleted that file yet, my bin still shows as full and I still can not access it without the endless green ribbon.

 

[ex_bubblehead]

....The code you provided ex_bubblehead, worked... I think. It deleted that file yet, my bin still shows as full and I still can not access it without the endless green ribbon.

Did you launch "cmd" as administrator? If not it won't work. You also have to reboot afterward.

 

[aryae21]

Yes I ran it as admin. But I didn't restart, I did that after you told me. It still didnt work however, the recycle bin is still full and not accessible.

 

[Hawkeye22]

If you right-click the trash can and select properties, you can change the size of the trash on the hard drive. Try minimizing it.

Actually before you try to minimize it, what happens if you select "don't use trash, remove files immediately" and select ok? This might forces windows to remove the trash, then you can reactivate the trash afterwards.

 

[aryae21]

It does nothing, and I had already selected remove files immediately to prevent this happening again.