Trouble emptying my trash bin (on the computer)

[Alcoblog]

Ok, I keep forgetting to do this. I stick loads of stuff in the trash bin.

Normally, I just click on the little square at the top of all the messages I want to permanently delete, and it puts a little green tick in the boxes before each message, on all the messages I want to get rid of (all of them ... or they wouldn't be in the bin in the first place)

When all the little green ticks appear, I simply press the 'delete' button and all the messages disappear.

 

The 'Delete' button's disappeared!

 

I can permanently delete all unwanted trash messages individually (right click on individual message ... select delete ... press it ... 'Are you sure you permanently want to delete this message?' [yes/no] ... I press yes', but bearing in mind about 40 messages get dumped in the bin each day and they go back to 26th November 2012, It's gonna take me bloody ages. I estimate about 4000 of the bloody things!

 

Anyone know where to find the 'delete' button that gets rid of everything with just one press? Where can it have gone? This is a serious question ... not one of my stupid things.

[Paul Blade]

Right mouse click on a clear space in window

 

Press Ctl and a at same time which will select all then press delete which will delete all in Recycle bin

[Alcoblog]

Right mouse click on a clear space in window

 

Press Ctl and a at same time which will select all then press delete which will delete all in Recycle bin

Yeah but the 'delete ' button's disappeared for the whole screen! It only appears to allow me to delete one message at a time. I can't delete the whole lot in one go. I'm wondering if there's something wrong with my comp ... never had this problem before, dead easy!

[howden]

Paul means press the delete key on the keyboard after ctl a.

[Alcoblog]

Paul means press the delete key on the keyboard after ctl a.

 

I'm honestly following Paul's instructions to the 'T'. Right clicking on a blank space on the screen, then pressing 'Ctrl' and 'a' at the same time. It does not select all (I presume all the boxes to the messages are then supposed to get a green tick in them?) Obviously, then pressing the 'delete' button does nothing.

 

I've never had this problem before, and always found the process of permanently deleting all the messages in the bin extremely easy (even for me who's not very good with computers)

[max]

Which mail system are you using as, by the sounds of it, you are not talking about the trash can on your desktop?

[howden]

There is this "fix it" from Microsoft...

 

"Can't empty the Recycle Bin in Windows XP or in Windows Vista"

 

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2394521

[Alcoblog]

Thank's everybody. The reason my comp wasn't working was because it was being hacked ... someone was closing it down and deleting bits of it. That's why the bin didn't work, for starters and it was beginning to go very slow. Having spent three hours talking to the tech team at AOL in California (free call), they identified over 2000 problems and fixed them whilst I was on the phone. It works fantastically quickly now, too!

 

They've given me a new bullet proof, un-hackable customer ID (guaranteed) and a personal number to call 24/7 if I have any other technical problems. Well impressed!