Cant delete a .tmp file from my Recycle Bin

Hi,

I have windows xp home on a dell laptop and I have a tmp file in my
recycle bin which i cannot delete. By that I mean I can empty the
recycle bin and the bin is empty, however, when i re-start windows it
reappears.

Does anyone know what causes this and how I can permanently remove it?

Regards

Djuro

djurornic RemoveThis @yahoo.co.uk wrote on Sun, 4 Mar 2007:

>Hi,
>
>I have windows xp home on a dell laptop and I have a tmp file in my
>recycle bin which i cannot delete. By that I mean I can empty the
>recycle bin and the bin is empty, however, when i re-start windows it
>reappears.
>
>Does anyone know what causes this and how I can permanently remove it?

Hi Djuro

Are you the same Djuro who posted the day before that the problem was
solved? If so, and it's come back again, did you try the solution I gave
you before, to delete the Recycler folder while Explorer is not running?

The most usual reason is that a hidden file within the Recycler folder
which keeps track of the files in the bin, their original filenames and
where they came from, gets corrupted or simply fails to update properly.
This means that the bin on your desktop thinks the file is still there.

You *could* just delete the tracking file, but it can be a bit daunting
if you're not too used to the Command line, as it's hidden two layers
deep inside a folder with a long arcane name The easiest way is to
delete the whole Recycler folder and have Windows rebuild it when you
restart. To do this:

[1] Open a Command window and shut down any other running programs.
Ctrl-Alt-Del to open the Task Manager.

[2] In Task Manager look on the Processes tab and select Explorer.exe,
Click on the End Process button. (Your desktop and taskbar will
disappear and you'll be left with just Task Manager and the Command
window. Don't panic! Leave Task Manager open and return to the
Command window.

[3] Now at the prompt type:
rd /s /q C:\Recycler <enter>
type: exit <enter> to close the Command window.

[4] Go back to Task Manager and on the Applications tab click the button
for New Task. In the box that pops up type: Explorer <OK>. Your desktop
should return to normal. Close Task Manager and reboot.

[5] When you return to Windows don't worry if the bin icon still shows
full. Put a test file in the bin and then right-click to empty it.
Hopefully now it should all be working.

Good luck! Do please let us know how you get on.

--
Nightowl