Most users use the recycle bin icon on the Windows desktop to manage deleted files. It can be used to open the recycle bin to restore or delete files.

MiniBin is a small application that adds a recycle bin icon to the Windows system tray to make it accessible there as well. The unobtrusive location offers access to the recycle bin if windows are maximized on the screen.

The icon offers two options on right-click. It is possible to empty the recycle bin to delete all files in it from the system or open the recycle bin to display the files in Windows Explorer.

The portable application can be downloaded from software download sites like Softpedia. (via)

Recycle Bin Ex is a standalone program for Windows that enhances the capabilities of the Recycle Bin.

The two major features that it offers are automatic deletions of files that are older than a specified age, and the grouping of files based on patterns.

recyclebin ex

The interface of the program displays all files that are currently stored in the recycle bin. This looks similar to the Windows Explorer view of the Recycle Bin, with few differences. The filter content bar at the top can be used to quickly filter files based on the terms entered.

The Select All menu offers file selections based on age, and the deleted time and logical disk header selections based on the date of deletion, and the logical disk the files have been deleted on.

The automatic deletion of files based on their age is configurable in the Options. Here it is furthermore possible to configure the autostart of the program, and add it to the context menu of the Recycle Bin icon.

Recycle Bin Ex can be a helpful program for users who regularly work with the Recycle Bin in Windows. Most users on the other hand may feel that the program does not add enough to justify its installations on the system.

Those Windows users who want to try the software can download it from the developer’s homepage.

If you take a look at the standard sidebar in Windows Explorer you notice that it contains links to Favorites, Libraries, Homegroup, Computer and Network links and folders.

A right-click on some elements, like the libraries or favorites, opens the possibility to add a new location to those entries but there is no apparent way of adding the recycle bin to any section in Windows Explorer.

There is however an easy option to display the recycle bin. Right-click a blank spot in the left Explorer sidebar and select the Show all folders option from the opening context menu.

This changes the layout of the Windows Explorer sidebar quite a bit as you can see in the screenshot below.

Only two groups are shown in the new sidebar, the favorites and the desktop. Desktop contains the libraries, homegroup, computer and network settings as well as links to the control panel and the recycle bin.

You can revert the changes by right-clicking a blank spot again and clicking on the show all folders link.

This guide is mainly for those users who want a separate article on the subject. The recycle bin icon is not a normal icon that can be deleted easily. It can be removed by programs or by changing specific settings in the operating system. It is furthermore possible to hide it or move it outside of the screen borders so that it appears to not be there even though it is.

Check if the recycle bin icon is hidden or outside the visual screen borders.

• Right-click the computer desktop and open the View context menu entry.
• Make sure the Show desktop icons entry is checked
• Click on auto arrange icons to arrange all icons.

The recycle bin icon has been deleted if it is not shown after this.

How to restore the recycle bin icon

Now that we have made sure that the icon is not hidden we can restore the recycle bin icon on the desktop.

• Right-click the computer desktop again and select Personalize from the options
• Click on the Change desktop icons link in the upper left corner of the screen.
• This lists the available icons that can be placed on the desktop. Check Recycle Bin and click ok to apply the changes.

The recycle bin icon should now be visible on the desktop again.

You can obviously reverse the procedure to remove or delete the recycle bin icon from the computer desktop.

I was not able to find a Windows equivalent for Autotrash despite my research efforts. Though there appear to be no direct analogues, one application that does feature functionality similar to Autotrash is Bin Manager. The program has been designed for Windows XP but is compatible with 32-bit editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well. However, 64-bit Windows users will not be able to use the program.

Bin Manager adds a new context menu entry to the Windows Recycle Bin. The entry Delete Items Older Than leads to a submenu that can be used to delete files in the recycle bin older than the specified age. Available for deletion are Today, Yesterday as well as 2, 3, 7 and 30 days. Intuitively, Bin Manager will delete all files in the recycle bin older than the specified age.

The software program aids users who prefer to keep data in the recycle bin for some time to be able to quickly purge deleted items older than their preferred safety net. To do so, all they need to do is to regularly actuate Bin Manager to delete the files that are older than the specified age.

The manual approach has a few disadvantages. One obvious disadvantage is that the user can neglect to regularly perform the operation. Thankfully, the Bin Manager developer provides a basic script that can be integrated into the shutdown or startup commands in the Group Policy.

Bin Manager is a helpful program, especially for users who keep data in the recycle bin for some time before deleting it. The software can be downloaded directly from the developer’s website.

It is possible to customize that display either by adding a new favorite location to the sidebar listing (by dragging and dropping the folder there) or by adding a new library.

There is also a third option that does not become apparent to most Windows 7 users. It is possible to change the configuration so that additional links are displayed in that sidebar in Windows Explorer.

The two prominent additions of this configuration change are links to the control panel and recycle bin.

The left image shows the standard display of Windows Explorer with the categories favorites, libraries, homegroup, computer and network while the right screenshots shows the extended display with all folders shown.

The right folder structure has also changed if you look closely as the Desktop now makes up the root of nearly every other folder in that display except the favorite links.

It is really simply to display the control panel and recycle bin in Windows Explorer. All that needs to be done is to open an explorer window, click on Tools > Folder Options and check the Show all folders box under Navigation Pane.

The new display mode is automatically visible after leaving the configuration window.

The same can be said if you want to delete a file in Windows. You mark it, you press Delete and what happens ? You are asked if you really, really want to delete that file or if you made a mistake. Not only that but by default the file goes to the trashbin where you could recover it and even if it would not go there you would still be able to recover it with file recovery tools.

So what’s up with these confirmation messages and computers ? I recently installed a new operating system for a friend and the first thing that I noticed after booting into it was those dreaded are you sure you want to delete the files that you have selected. That message can be deactivated, I suppose most of you do now that already but for those who do not here is the way.

Right-click your Recycle Bin on the desktop and select Properties from the menu. This is also a great way of selecting a proper maximum size for the Recycle Bin. I think Windows reserves 10% for the Recycle Bin by default, might be wrong on that but the number is definitely huge. When the Recycle Bin properties pop up you see a tiny option at the bottom that says "Display Delete Confirmation Dialog".

If you uncheck that you will not be asked if you surely want to delete the files that you have selected. It's a great time saver in my opinion and since it is possible to recover files it should not be a problem for most users.