Can you open the recycle bin, Uvah? One reason you can't empty the recycle bin is that some file in there is in use.

If you wish to empty the recycle bin (and you've run a Malwarebytes scan and there's no virus found), do the following:

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

2. Type the following command:  rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin  and press ENTER.

This clears out the $Recycle.bin folder for the C:\ drive. You may have to do this for each hard disk partition in your system. Change C to their letter.

3. Type exit to close the Command Prompt window.

Does the number of files in the Recycle Bin change at all?

Ah... Jorge! Thank you so much for stopping by. Uvah, Jorge knows how to make computers sit up and wag their tails. Listen to him!

@Jorge - nope. There are only six items in the bin, nothing changes.

Did the elevated command prompt and the first time seemed to work but a dialogue box came up and said something about corrupted. I didn't catch it all as it vanished too quickly. Second time I tried the command prompt denied me access. Reopened it and ran it as administrator and got the same thing...access is denied.

If you delete more stuff, does the number change?

Can you still empty the bin with the desktop icon?

1. Run the Malwarebytes scan, Uvah.

2. Then run  chkdsk /f /r  with the elevated command prompt.

The number doesn't change if I delete more it stays the same. Also it says my recycle bin for C: is corrupt.

Did a restart after running Threatfire and MalwareBytes and the recycle bin came up empty. Did as Doc suggested and ran chkdsk /s /r. Did a restart and the volume is clean. Just ran a test and created a short cut then deleted it. There was a short delay, about three seconds the the recycle bin icons went empty, first in sysmetrix then in Nexus dock. Usually they empty at the same time.

So you ran chkdsk /f /r  not /s /r   correct?

Then you've fixed it.

Now make sure you run the Malwarebytes scan and then the chkdsk /f /r for each hard drive you have.

Now create a restore point.   Because you know it'll work.

One way I have fixed the recycle bin in the past is to just turn it off. there is a setting that you tell it "delete without using the recycle bin" and it goes to file heaven. restart once or twice and it should dump of what it had, then when you start it back up it should be sitting someplace different and not be corrupt. We used to move things on the drive by clearing it (like turning the recycle bin or page file off) reboot it, and then copy a fairly good size file a million times to fill up the old space. reboot again and then turn the file back on. then delete the million, billion copies you made before. The recycle/drive/whatever should be physically sitting on a different location.  This worked for bad sectors and corrupt files. Don't know if it works for 7, it worked for every version prior to then. we did this when we reset the paging file to speed up a system. now any more there is hardly enough ram to run the computer without the page file.

Working fine now.

Doc's remedy did the trick.

Soon as my ex gets out of prison, you can take her out....he he.   

AAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!