Having had countless calls from computer users that had moved their task bar accidently and wanted to know how to put it back, we were delighted to get a call involving, for us, a "new" problem. This caller had accidently deleted the desktop Recycle Bin icon. Being curious, we wondered why we had never received this complaint before. As it turns out this problem is, as far as we know, unique to Windows Vista. Confirming that this problem only occurs on Windows Vista wasn't possible because the last pre - Windows XP machine was retired earlier this year.
On the left is a representation of the context menu resulting from right clicking the Recycle Bin on the Vista desktop. On the right, the same menu from a Windows XP desktop. Notice the absence of the delete option on the Windows XP version of the Recycle Bin "shortcut" menu. This explains why this problem is unique to Windows Vista and why we haven't had calls involving this complaint previously.
Now that curiosity has been satisfied, let's get to the problem's cure. Place your mouse pointer on a portion of the desktop that isn't covered with shortcut icons and single right click. This will result in the shortcut menu shown here. Notice that Windows Vista has had the "Properties" option renamed to "Personalize", which in this case is the option that needs to be left clicked.
The Personalization window that opens has all the options and controls that the old Display Properties dialog had in Windows XP. The item needed now is located in the upper left hand corner of this window, listed under Tasks and is shown in the inset in the illustration. Left clicking "Change desktop icons" takes us to the next step.
The Desktop Icon Settings window provides the fix for the deleted Recycle Bin problem. Simply left click the check box labeled Recycle Bin to select this feature. Once the check box has a check in it left click the "Apply" button at the bottom of the window. Now left click the "OK" button and your Recycle Bin Icon should now be in place.
With your Recycle Bin back on the Desktop, you may be wondering if there is a way to prevent accidentally deleting your icon again. The answer is yes. A web search for "Vista recycle bin menu" will return links to several pages that solve this with registry tweaks. Enhanced Vista Recycle Bin Menu shows how to trade the Delete option for Disk Clean Up. Since this appears to be a common occurrence among Vista users there are other registry edit schemes that have been developed. Personal computing habits solved this issue for me prior to the release of Windows Vista. If you look again at the two Recycle Bin menus, you will notice that both have the options to "Run CCleaner" and "Open CCleaner". One of these options has been used instead of "Empty Recycle Bin" for quite some time. This solution avoids fooling with the registry. It also empties the Temporary Internet File folder, the Temp folder and the Recycle Bin with a single click.
Microsoft, Microsoft Office, Windows, Windows XP and Windows Vista are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other names have been included in the above text that are trademarks of the respective companies.
