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Limitations of File Recovery from Recycle Bin

The Recycle Bin is great convenience, making file recovery so simple that most of us just take it for granted, but file recovery from here does have some limits. Any file that you delete from the desktop or from Windows Explorer will be moved to the Recycle Bin, so do files that are deleted from compliant programs from other software providers.

Files deleted at the DOS prompt bypass the Recycle Bin and get instantly deleted; any files that are delete from removable media such as floppies, or Zip disks, or files deleted from compressed folders meet the same fate. For these files, file recovery is a lot more difficult.

If you are deleting sensitive files and want to deliberately avoid the Recycle Bin with its easy file recovery, select the file (or files) and then press Shift-Del. This will ensure that those sensitive files don't remain lurking in the Recycle Bin waiting for somebody to retrieve them.

Why file recovery from the Recycle Bin is possible

When you delete a file and it appears in the Recycle Bin, it has not been physically moved to the Recycle Bin at all. The file stays where it always was, but its directory entry has been moved and placed in a hidden folder called Recycled, and the deleted file renamed. All the original information about the file is stored in a hidden index file, called INFO2, that is located in the Recycled folder. When you use Recycle Bin for file recovery, the original path is read from the INFO file, the file renamed, and its directory entry restored.

Possible File Recovery problems with Recycle Bin

If you are attempting a file recovery from the Recycle Bin and found it unexpectedly empty, it could be because the INFO file has been corrupted. If you are lucky, a file recovery may still be possible by using the Windows search function, searching for the file by name, and then renaming it.

If that approach fails, try deleting the INFO file from the DOS prompt; trying to do it from Windows will just return a 'file in use' error. Deleting this file will cause Windows to create a new INFO file at the next reboot, and then you should find all the deleted files safely back in the Recycle Bin.

A damaged file that has been deleted and stored in Recycle Bin can also cause it to appear empty. Unfortunately, if that is the cause you probably won't be able to recover anything from the Recycle Bin. Once again, it can be repaired by deleting the INFO file from DOS.

Damage to the Recycled folder itself will also cause some problems, the usual symptoms are that you will be able to send your deleted files to the Recycle Bin, and the Recycle Bin icon on the desktop will even appear to be full, but you will not be able to view the contents of the Recycle Bin and when you right click on the icon the Empty Recycle Bin command will be unavailable.