Member Avatar for Tom Wade

my Recycle Bin icon indicates that there are contents waiting to be emptied... when i open it. there is nothing there.

when i hit "empty recycle bin" a message comes up that says...

"are you sure you want to delete WINDOWS?"

i didn't. why is this happening? is it related to the other problems i've been having?? what with viruses and spyware?

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Short answer: this is usually not a UI trick — the Recycle Bin’s on-disk index or per-drive “recycler” folder is corrupt (or, less commonly, something holding strange hidden entries there). That explains why the desktop icon shows “full” while the bin window looks empty and why the confirmation dialog names a system folder. was right to point toward hidden/system items; common causes and the Recycle Bin internals are documented in XP-era troubleshooting notes. (kellys-korner-xp.com)

Safe, ordered steps (non-destructive first)

  • Do NOT click “Yes” to a prompt that claims it will delete Windows.
  • Run a file-system repair first: schedule and run chkdsk C: /f (or the equivalent error‑checking tool) and reboot — this fixes many cases where the bin index or directory entries are inconsistent. (learn.microsoft.com)
  • If the problem remains, rebuild the Recycle Bin container for each drive (Windows will recreate it). On modern Windows that is done by removing the per-drive recycle folder (for example with rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.Bin run elevated); older XP-style installs sometimes require removing or repairing the INFO2 file inside the RECYCLER folder. Both approaches are standard troubleshooting but will permanently remove whatever is currently in the bin, so verify recovery first. (learn.microsoft.com)

Malware and recovery notes

  • If any malware/spyware is suspected (the OP mentioned infections), boot to Safe Mode or run an offline/boot-time scan (for example Microsoft Defender Offline or a reputable on‑demand scanner) before rebuilding the bin — persistent malware can leave hidden entries. After cleaning, rebuild the bin and re-check. (learn.microsoft.com)

If files must be preserved, inspect the per-drive Recycler/Recycler subfolders (your user SID) before deleting anything, copy needed files out, then rebuild. Mentioning and because their suggestions (check hidden items, scan in Safe Mode) are the right starting points; follow the order above to avoid needless data loss.

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Member Avatar for DMR

is it related to the other problems i've been having?? what with viruses and spyware?

Which other problems?

If you've posted threads relating to those problems, please give us links to those in your next post in this thread.

If not, please descibe the "other problems" in detail in your next post in this thread.

Member Avatar for DMR

OK- you're logs in that thread do look pretty infested. Let's keep following through with cleaning procedures in that thread for now.

In terms of the Recycle Bin problem though, you obviously don't want to empty the Bin given what you've described. Let's see if there are hidden items in the Bin:

* Open Windows Explorer, and in the Folder Options->View settings under the Tools menu, select "show hidden files and folders", and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" and "Hide extentions for known file types".

* Locate the "Recycled" folder and double-click on it.

Does anything show up in there now that you've configured Explorer to show hidden files and folders?

Member Avatar for justinchris

For any kind of PC up gradation or PC maintenance a best place i know is you can have a look by yourself it deals with all kinds of pc problems virus removal, spyware problem etc. I hope you won't be disappointed because one of my friend referred me this site and by that time i am with this site and recommending others

Member Avatar for hemslyjoe

The only guaranteed way to remove viruses is to reformat and reinstall windows. However there are two things you can try. First reboot and tap the F8 key then select Safe Mode With Networking. Start Internet Explorer, search for Bitdefender Online Scan and run it.

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Mark Sullivan, www.pcrepairexperts.net Team

Member Avatar for crunchie

Reformat is only necessary in a minority of cases and is the pussies way out :D. Anyways, the OP has been and gone 3 years ago, so I doubt they will see this :).

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