Recycle Bin shows different number of items with different methods

[Thy Grand Voidinesss]

In my Everything [1.5.0.1372a x64 Portable] I have Filter with such settings

Code: Select all

Search:
:\$recycle.bin\ !$I <<search:> | displayname:<search:> | original-location:<search:>> columns:dm;date-deleted;extension;size;path;length;displayname;original-location;name;type

Macro:
bin<search>

and it [currently] reports to me

● items: 13 205
● files: 9 129
● folders: 4 0006


I also have two Bookmarks with its Search [Custom] set to

Code: Select all

:\$recycle.bin\ display-name:""

and

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:\$recycle.bin\ display-name:<>

and they both [currently] report to me

● items: 20 014
● files: 16 008
● folders: 4 006


And for comparison both Windows Explorer [Windows 10 Enterprise 20H2 x64 10.0.19042] and FreeCommander [XE 2023 Build 906 64-bit Donor Portable & Build 900 32-bit Public Installed] are reporting only

● items: 4 556
● files: ?
● folders: ?

Where are those large differences coming from?

[therube]

As a start, $recycle.bin takes all your volumes into consideration, where if you look at Windows Explorer, its' Properties will only show the volume you are looking at.

So in Everything, you might want something like,

$recycle.bin C:

.
Likewise, $recycle.bin would also find $recycle.bin.lnk (if such a file existed).

[Thy Grand Voidinesss]

As a start, $recycle.bin takes all your volumes into consideration, where if you look at Windows Explorer, its' Properties will only show the volume you are looking at.

This is true only if you navigate to a Recycle Bin folder like e.g.

C:\$RECYCLE.BIN

but false if you open the overall / system wide Recycle Bin folder through the Desktop. That is precisely why [to be sure of that] I had included also the results from FreeCommander [for comparison with Windows Explorer] after using its default feature that accesses the Recycle Bin [that I have been utilizing for years to recover deleted items from different volumes] - and now I have double checked that by switching in Windows Explorer to

View > Details

in order to [as expected] see paths from different volumes

So in Everything, you might want something like,

$recycle.bin C:

.
[...]

I might some other time - and also rather this

Code: Select all

C:\$RECYCLE.BIN bin:

But right now the issue at hand is getting results from all Recycle Bins folders i.e. from the Recycle Bin and not from a one particular - or to be prices: knowing an answer to the question, is Everything ghost / over-reporting or are both my file managers under-reporting?

[void]

Left over index files or data files.

They can be deleted after emptying the recycle bin.



Everything will show the files as they are on disk.

Other programs may show a virtualized view.
Virtualized views will only show one item for each $i and $r pair.

[Thy Grand Voidinesss]

But

4556 x 2 = 9112

and not 13205 nor 20014 items

And why is one [Filter] method in Everything reporting 13205 while other [Bookmarks] 20014 of them?

[Thy Grand Voidinesss]

Left over index files or data files.

They can be deleted after emptying the recycle bin.

By "can" - did you mean that it is some automatic task of Windows to delete index files, which the operating system is only allowed to perform only after user had used precisely the Empty Recycle Bin shell menu option?

Everything will show the files as they are on disk.
[...]

But in which mode?

When I am using a Filter set to

Code: Select all

Search:
:\$recycle.bin\ !$I <<search:> | displayname:<search:> | original-location:<search:>> columns:dm;date-deleted;extension;size;path;length;displayname;original-location;name;type

Macro:
bin<search>

or when I am using a Bookmark set to either

Search > Custom > :\$recycle.bin\ display-name:""

or

Search > Custom > :\$recycle.bin\ display-name:<>

?

[therube]

I'm thinking, start small.
So limit your search. And once you understand what you have found, expand from there & see what the next sets of data shows?

In my case (& assuming I'm doing it correctly) & limiting myself to C:\$Recycle.Bin & only to the (default) user accessible directory therein, & only files thereof, Everything & Salamander show the same number of files, 3086, & the same number of bytes (62,977,274, in Salamander (in Everything, Ctrl+A, right-click Properties - 62,977,274).

So in that regard, for that much data, everything & Everything agree.

Now... physically, I have $Recycle.Bin on C: & also on E:, & other then that "(default) user accessible directory", there are other directories within $Recycle.Bin, which... are not accessible under a user context, but are "As Admin" (in Salamander, but the same does not work in Windows Explorer), & those "other directories" happen to only have (literally) a few (or 1 file) within.

Note that:
c:\$recycle.bin\ display-name:"" parents:3 file:
&
c:\$recycle.bin\ parents:3 file:
return different number of results.

There (theoretically) are at least a "desktop.ini" file in those "other" directories within $Recycle.Bin.
In the former search, with display-name:''", "desktop.ini" is only found in the "user accessible" directory.
And in the latter search, desktop.ini is found in all directories within C:\$Recycle.Bin.

(In my case, that is a difference of 2 files, depending on the search.)


After that... well, I guess you have to dig through things in greater detail to get a real good understand of what is there, or not.
Also not that there can be "deadwood" in $Recycle.Bin, i.e., files that look like "recycle bin" files, but have lost their association/meaning to "Recycle Bin" (virtual folder).

1. Everything, 3086 items, 60 MB
2. Salamander (& Recycle Bin), 3086

(Discrepancy with Recyle Bin, 1536 items x2 = 3072, may have to deal with... unsure offhand?
desktop.ini, cause that would not be a "x2" file. The subdirectories & files within, as I have not counted them in Everything,
& maybe, or not, those not User user accessible files/directories within C:\$Recycle.Bin?)
.

Everything - Recycle Bin.png (95.14 KiB) Viewed 5765 times

[Thy Grand Voidinesss]

I'm thinking, start small.
So limit your search. And once you understand what you have found, expand from there & see what the next sets of data shows?
[...]
After that... well, I guess you have to dig through things in greater detail to get a real good understand of what is there, or not.
[...]

So basically you are saying that I would have to account for pennies i.e. investigate on a per item basis?

This would be feasible only after having performed a thorough wipe-out of all of Recycle Bin folders content and then checking it from time to time after normal emptying of them. But the most such investigation would be needed and would expand my knowledge is a situation, when I have such hundreds and thousands of such unaccounted for items [i.e. discrepancies in numbers]. But in that situation investigating them is a tedious task. And thus this is a conundrum

[...]
Everything & Salamander show the same number of files
[...]
there can be "deadwood" in $Recycle.Bin, i.e., files that look like "recycle bin" files, but have lost their association/meaning to "Recycle Bin" (virtual folder).
[...]
Discrepancy with Recyle Bin, 1536 items x2 = 3072, may have to deal with... unsure offhand?
[...]

This reminds of that time when I was trying my Recycle Bin to loose some stubborn items for good. I do not remember the details but I suspect it was the issue of too long names that were irremovable due to their names length. And I think that this was the time when I got squinted with the nuclear option of removal of the Recycle Bin folders: I added to my shell menu two different Take Ownership entries which allow me to exercise ordinary deletion of those system protected folders. And if that extremely rarely fails, then there is thermonuclear option: the Wipe & Delete option of FastCopy from FastCopy Lab. [And if that fails then there is the blackhole option: deletion and re-creation from scratch of entire volume]

[void]

By "can" - did you mean that it is some automatic task of Windows to delete index files, which the operating system is only allowed to perform only after user had used precisely the Empty Recycle Bin shell menu option?

Emptying the recycle bin doesn't delete files with a missing $I or $R file.
Only files with valid $I and $R pair are deleted. (Shown in the Virtual Recycle Bin folder)

The left-over files need to be deleted manually.

But in which mode?

With the following search (your bookmarks):

:\$recycle.bin\

-This will show all physical files in your recycle bin.



Your filter includes

!$I

in the search, so only matches data files.
This be about half of your recycle bin files. The other half will be the $I (index files) which contain the original filenames and date deleted timestamps.