Change the Size of the Recycle Bin

By default, the maximum size of the Recycle Bin of any hard disk is ten percent of the disk itself. For example, a 20GB hard disk would have a maximum Recycle Bin size of 2GBquite a bit of loitering space for files that you want to delete.

There are a couple reasons for modifying the default Recycle Bin size. One, configuring a smaller maximum size forces good housekeeping; you tend not to clutter up your hard disk with useless files marked for deletion. Two, you also might do so simply because disk space is getting low.

Conversely, you may decide to raise this limit because you don't want to lose any of the files currently in the Recycle Bin. You can perform either of these tasks by accessing the Recycle Bin's Properties dialog box as shown in the previous chunk. You then choose from one of these options:

• Set all drives at once. Set the same size Recycle Bin for all drives with the "Use one setting for all drives" radio button on the Global tab. Then specify the maximum as the percentage of total drive space by moving the slider. Click OK when done.

• Set drives individually. If you'd like to change the maximum Recycle Bin size for just a single drive, or if you want various drives to have different maximums, select the "Configure drives independently" radio button on the Global tab. Next, click the tab of the drive you want to change and set the slider. Click OK to apply your changes.

Note that if you set the Recycle Bin size to zero percent, all of its contents are lost when changes are applied. This is yet another way to immediately delete items first using the Recycle Bin. In other words, configuring the Recycle Bin with a setting of zero effectively does away with the Recycle Bin. You will still see the icon, but it will be sitting uselessly on the Desktop.

Also, if you delete a file that causes the Recycle Bin to exceed its allotted percentage size, Windows warns you with an error message.