[galahad3]

Hi, I have a curious issue on our Windows 2008 R2 Standard servers. On each drive there is a $Recycle.bin folder as I would expect, but inside each of these there are multiple folders each called Recycle Bin, each one containing what looks like the exact same files. This is causing confusion to the end users.

Can anyone tell me how I can configure the recycle bin so that there is only one folder containing one set of files, for each drive- or better still, a single recycle bin for ALL drives. ???

I'vge tried googling this and couldn't find any answers at all- maybe no one has come across this issue?

 

[Stancestans]

That is a system folder, and should be super-hidden and not just hidden, so why is it visible to users in the first place? You should hide it and not worry about it. Let the system manage the recycle bin and other system files. You could even restrict changes to folder options through group policy to prevent users from turning on visibility of hidden and system files.

 

[galahad3]

Ok thanks, but going back to my original question, why is it showing as multiple folders and how can I get it to display as just one? Some of the users are administrator-level and need to be able to see other hidden / system folders so I can't turn off the feature for them.

 

[LMiller7]

The $Recycle.bin folder is a system folder and is hidden by default. It was never intended that users would access this folder and that is why it is hidden. Do not attempt to modify the contents in any way. Use the recycle bin on the desktop. The contents of the folder are officially undocumented and there is no configuration for how it will appear.

 

[Stancestans]

Ok thanks, but going back to my original question, why is it showing as multiple folders and how can I get it to display as just one? Some of the users are administrator-level and need to be able to see other hidden / system folders so I can't turn off the feature for them.

Like I said, it's a system folder, the Recycle bin, and as such, Windows/Server manages its structure and you or anyone else shouldn't even be concerned about how it looks. If you search around you'll particularly notice that the recycle bin's internal workings are not of much interest, so there is very limited information about it. These administrator-level users who are advanced enough to work with super-hidden system folders should not be confused by the recycle bin's "odd" structure. Beats me why anyone would be looking inside that folder in the first place. That nested structure is necessary for the recycle bin to be able to hold identical files deleted from the same location, something that wouldn't be possible in a normal directory. This is why the recycle bin is able to hold same-named files and folders deleted from the same location without conflict or need to rename or overwrite an already existing one. There isn't anything you can do to change that folder's structure, and even if there was, that would break the recycle bin's functionality. If you deleted it or any of its nested subfolders, the system will still generate them. This is a non-issue and users should simply ignore it. What are the chances that they'll ever work with that folder directly and why would anyone want to work with it?