I have XP on my computer, and the dang recycle bin keeps sayin cannot remove dierctory I386: the directory is not empty.

There are no folders in there called I386 i even tried to view hidden files and no such directory. I tried in safe mode, didn't work, i've tried everything I can think of with no luck. There are NO antivirius or sofware that protects recycle bin like nortons. Ran all the spyware stuff, even tried to find it in CMD in safe mode.

NO luck whatso ever. Also to boot I have approximately 20 gig of free disc space and anytime I try and copy a file to the hard drive it says not enough free space.

Computer management/ defragment/ anaylize shows huge files that are fragmented but defrag won't do anything to them it just defrags around it says something about disc cleanup or something.

Disc cleanup buy the way doesn't remove the stuff there either.

I'm stumpped

Whatever is in recycle bin is huge, hidden, and unremovable!

SP1a is/ has been installed if anyone asks.
Also no dual boots or nothin like that.

Also system restore has no affect on recycle bin.

ANY SUGGESTIONS?

ASUS A7V8X
AMD XP 2700+ 2.17ghz
768mb ddr 2700
nVidia 128mb FX 5200
WD 80gb SE
DVD R/RW

You may have other problems, but try the following for the bin... go to start>run and type in cmd. Then enter each of the following lines, hitting enter after each. Reboot when done.

attrib c:\recycler -h -s
del c:\recycler

Maybe this will help:
Description of the Low Disk Space Notification in Windows XP
(and how to turn off)

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;285107
----------------
About Defrag:
One thing that does not get defragged are Prefetch files.
C:\WINDOWS\Prefetch
The Prefetch folder is quite large.
I have deleted all files there, even
Layout.ini, at times without problems.
It will rebuild itself over time.
--------------------
Another thing I notice that is taking up space is
EVENT VIEWER logs. Go into EV then right click
each catagory, then click "Clear all events".
--------------------
About Recycle Bin:

Watch for help from others.

Before you try to delete anything else, I would run a full virus scan and spyware scan.

I don't know if you have i386 on your machine or not, but if you do -- and I suspect you do -- I doubt very much you want to remove it. Among other things, it is likely to hold your cab files which you might need some day. Do a search for i386 in your Help and Support section. How do you know it's in your recycler folder? How did it get there?

salgolf gets my vote

HiJinx tried your suggestion looked like it was gonna work but didn't. didn't report any errors or anything like that. Still says:

Cannot remove folder I386: The directory is not empty.

Chuck 2 < are prefetch files red?

Mike Thanks but i already ran every spyware prog i got and antivirus comes back as nothin.

salgolf When I go to empty the recycle bin the first window pops up are you sure you want to delete i386, i click ok then the next box pops up: Cannot remove folder I386: The directory is not empty.

I have searched the recycle bin and there are no file in it, even opened up to check for hidden files etc. There is nothing even in there to choose restore to.

This one has me puzzled, as everytime i delete something the fragments get bigger < More red stuff in disk defragmenter > and the size of the files i try to put on the computer are getting smaller. It's like the recycle bin says it's taking the items but not really deleting them. My hard drive properties say i have plenty but obvioiusly their is something wrong.

Must be a new windows bug or something! I'm at a total loss. besides this problem all works well untill the thing runs out of hard drive space.

ASUS A7V8X
AMD XP 2700+ 2.17ghz
768mb ddr 2700
128mb FX 5200 8x AGP
WD 80gb SE 8mb cache
NEC 16x DVD R/RW Dual layer Dual format.

I guess u shoul delete whole recycler folder in C So first of all in Folders options uncheck the option Hide sytem files and also check Show hidden files options. Dont worry Windows ll recreate it.

Oh well Format and reinstall of windows worked quite well. No more problems for now.

ASUS A7V8X
AMD XP 2700+ 2.17ghz
768mb ddr 2700
nVidia 128mb FX 5200
WD 80gb SE
DVD R/RW

AFAIK I386 is your swap file. BAD idea to delete it.

I'm having similar problems with deleting things and not getting back my space. My RECYCLER folder is also huge (9GB) whilst recycle bin is empty. Craziest bug I've ever had!