MS Technology Vocabulary Recycle Bin
Eden Epner
January 2009
Computer 7-4
Recycle Bin
A recycle bin on a Windows desktop is an icon where unneeded or unwanted files may be thrown away. The files in the recycle bin are not deleted, though, until the recycle bin has been emptied by the user. This makes it easier to recover files the user accidentally deleted. To recover files, right click on the recycle bin icon and click on OPEN. When a window pops up, click on the file you want to recover. Then on the right you will see a light blue box that says “Recycle Bin Tasks”. Click on “restore this item”. The Recycle Bin keeps files that have been deleted, whether accidentally or intentionally. Users can review the contents of the Recycle Bin before deleting the items permanently. The Recycle Bin holds data that not only lists deleted files, but also the date, time and the path of those files. The Recycle Bin is opened like an ordinary Windows Explorer folder and the files are viewed similarly. Deleted files may be removed from the Recycle Bin by restoring them with a command, or by deleting them permanently. The Recycle Bin's icon indicates whether there are items in the Recycle Bin. If there are no files or folders in the Recycle Bin, then the icon resembles an empty wastepaper basket. Otherwise if there are files and/or folders the icon resembles a full wastepaper basket.
Deleting files
Files are moved to the Recycle Bin in a number of ways: • By right-clicking on a file and selecting delete from the menu • Selecting the file and pressing the delete key • Selecting delete from the side menu in Windows XP • Selecting the file and choosing delete from the File menu (in Windows XP Explorer) • From a context menu command or some other function in a software application (usually configurable) • By dragging and dropping a file into the Recycle Bin icon</nowiki>
Known issues
The Recycle Bin only stores files deleted from hard drives, not from removable media, such as memory cards and floppy disks. It also doesn't store files deleted from network drives. Having a big disk and full Recycle Bin can considerably slow down deleting files. This can be resolved by emptying the Recycle Bin. In versions prior to Windows Vista, the Recycle Bin icon cannot be deleted from the desktop like other icons. Deleting a registry key from the Windows Registry resolves this issue. The key varies with the version of the operating system. If the Recycle Bin icon has been deleted from the desktop screen, the following actions can restore it (in Windows Vista ) - clicking: Right click->Personalization->and then click "change desktop icons" from the left-hand column at the top. From there just check Recycle Bin and click OK. The procedure for restoring the Recycle Bin icon in Windows XP is different, and more complicated. See a writeup in this Microsoft Support document http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810869
