Version 6.2: Recycle Bin

D

DavidHB

Active Member
On a Win 7 x64 (fully patched) machine, I am using today's v6.2 build, for reasons given in this thread.

File and folder erasure from either the tasks pane or initiated from the context menu appear to work normally. However, erasure of the contents of the Recycle Bin, whether from its context menu or from the tasks pane, is not working. In both cases, the task is established normally, and reported as 'completed', but the Recycle Bin is unaffected; its contents are not erased and the icon does not change.

I'd be grateful for advice.

David
 
Sorry, I have only just read the guidance to post reports on nightly builds in the Beta Testers' forum. I shall repost there when/if my request to join is approved.

David
 
The icon on the Desktop doesn't change or the contents of the Recycle Bin window doesn't change? I'll approve your request for joining the group now.
 
I think it is worth closing this thread by reporting that this bug is now fixed (I'm currently using nightly build 1731), as is a problem with Eraser hanging on startup. Thanks to Joel for the useful dialogue in the Beta Testers' forum which led to the fix.

It is also worth recording one piece of information that has emerged from the dialogue. As matters stand, the erasure of the Recycle Bin, whether initiated from the task pane or the context menu, will be reported as 'completed but with errors'. As I understand Joel's explanation of this, this is not a bug, but is, in effect, by design. The problem is that, in Vista and in an even more complex form in Windows 7, the Recycle bin contains files that are simply not user accessible in any way, shape or form. What these files contain, and whether the contents include user data, is anyone's guess. The only way to get rid of them is to empty all users' Recycle Bins, delete the Recycle Bin folder(s) completely, and then time consumingly wipe the free space on the drive(s) - hardly something one can do as a daily routine.

I don't think I need dwell on the potentially significant security implications of this fact, except to say that there are plenty of people who would be unhappy about it if they knew it. In the particular context of Eraser, the error message has been introduced in Version 6 as an honest admission that full erasing of the Recycle Bin is not possible; the issue is apparently the same, but not reported, in Version 5.

The moral of all this is that, if you have a file you want to delete securely, don't let it anywhere near the Recycle Bin. Use Eraser to delete it directly.

Hope this helps,

David
 
Actually, it is reported in v5, just not as obvious as it is in v6 (no completed with errors dialog, just a long list of messages which users have to dig out the salient points)
 
Joel said:
Actually, it is reported in v5, just not as obvious as it is in v6 (no completed with errors dialog, just a long list of messages which users have to dig out the salient points)
Click to expand...
Fair comment, Joel. I've just tried it in Version 5, and realised for the first time the significance of that 'failed' message I've been ignoring all these years. Obviously, what you did in version 6 has a point. Even nicer if you could get rid of those pesky protected files before they drive us all nuts wondering what's in them.

Incidentally, has anyone else noticed that, in v5.8.x., the Erase Recycle Bin task works from the context menu but not from the task pane? At least that what happens on my Vista x64 machine.

David
 
I haven't... it doesn't work?
 
Joel said:
I haven't... it doesn't work?
Click to expand...
Well, on my Vista x64 machine and Eraser 5.8.8, you can't actually create an erase Recycle Bin task in the pane (at least so far as I can see). But when I had a task to erase the drive C: Recycle Bin folder in the pane (and at present, having deleted it, I can't see how to recreate it), it ran, but didn't delete anything. Of course, without reproducing the behaviour, I can't swear that the material I was trying to erase was not actually in the Recycle Bin folder on the other drive, leaving only the phantom, unerasable files in the C: drive folder. So please treat what I said as a bemused observation rather than a bug report. If there is a real issue, someone will find it soon enough.

Be all that as it may, erasing the bin from its context menu works well, apart from the issue of the phantom files of course.

David
 
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