By default, in the standard Windows Explorer, viewing system and hidden folders is disabled . Indeed, most users do not need it, and sometimes it is even dangerous (there is a risk, say, of accidentally “dragging” an important folder, and not even notice it). But if you still enable this mode, the Recycle Bin folder will appear in the "root" of most drives. What it is depends on the circumstances: when and where this directory appeared. Sometimes this is a chance to save accidentally deleted files, and sometimes it’s a sure sign of a virus infected computer.
What is the Recycle Bin folder?
In the simplest case,
this is the folder in which the files deleted by the user in the trash are located. Microsoft began to use this name for the location of deleted files, starting with the version of Windows Vista. Previously, depending on the generation of the operating system, either the Recycled directory (Win 95, 98, Millenium) or Recycler (NT, 2000, XP) was used. By the way, if the hard drive survived the work in several operating systems during its long service, then all three
folders may well be located on it
. The new "OS" will simply ignore what remains of its predecessors.
The user is free to delete the contents of the Recycle Bin folder. There is a rule: everything that is in the basket can be destroyed without the risk of damaging relevant information in other directories. Sometimes it helps out. Due to system crashes, files that have long been erased may hang in the recycle bin, and the only way to delete them is to simply clear the contents of the Recycle Bin.
Set basket properties
During the existence of Microsoft desktop operating systems, the process of setting the properties of the system basket has not fundamentally changed. On Windows, starting with Vista, you can get to this window from the context menu of the recycle bin by selecting "Properties". A list of local disks will appear on the screen, indicating the size of each of them. By selecting the desired partition, you can set the maximum size of the Recycle Bin folder for it (in megabytes) or disable the ability to save deleted data for a specific drive. Unfortunately, such a rather convenient feature disappeared as the ability to set the percentage of the volume of the total basket size for all sections.
Where is the place for the basket?
For some users, it may be a surprise that the operating system is not capable of creating Recycle Bin on every drive. If you pay attention, you will notice the following. In the basket settings window, only local disks located on non-removable media are displayed. Accordingly, removable media and network drives do not have such an opportunity. And now the question: “Where did your favorite Recycle Bin flash drive come from?” What is it, I think, almost any antivirus can answer, if you let it check this directory. Until now, this is one of the most popular ways among virus writers to store malicious files on infected removable media. Almost certainly, a file called autorun.inf will also be located in the "root" of the disk, and it will be hidden and system, like the Recycle Bin folder.
The procedure for the user in this case is obvious:
1. Delete the malicious folder and file from the partition, or at least rename them.
2. Check with antivirus all the computers with which the flash drive has been in contact recently.
The operating system may refuse to delete the folder. The reason for this: one or more of the files located in it are currently open. In this case, you can, for example, use some kind of utility like the good old UnLocker, or try first removing autorun.inf, removing the drive and reconnecting it.
A pair of tricks with a basket
1. If for some reason you are not satisfied that the basket is located in the Recycle Bin folder, you can change the name of this directory to any other. Log in to the registry and go to the HKCR / CLSID / {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E} branch. Change the Recycle Bin to whatever your heart desires. Close the registry, reboot.
2. You can change the graphical representation of the basket. Go to the desktop personalization window. There are several links on the left. We are interested in "Change desktop icons." Move the cursor to the "Trash (empty)" element and click on the "Change Icon" button. Now you can either select a new icon from the standard set, or use your own collection of icons. The presentation for the "Cart (full)" element and, by the way, for other system elements presented in this dialog box are similarly changed. To return to the usual system icons, just click on the "Normal Icon" button.
3. If you do not use the recycle bin and want to delete the Recycle Bin folder from local disks, use the registry again. Go to HKLM \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ Desktop \ NameSpace. Just in case, export it, so that if you change your mind, you can safely roll back all the changes. Now delete the branch {645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}. Reboot the computer.
Finally, keep in mind that all the manipulations with the registry are at your own risk. Any unskilled changes to it can have the most devastating consequences for the operating system.