I have discovered an alarming bug on every computer on which I've been installing and upgrading CCleaner, from version 1.16 through the current 1.21. This is on a variety of models running Windows 2000 SP4 or Windows XP SP2, all with all current patches. (I should mention that I'm a PC Systems Administrator and a Windows expert.) When I install CCleaner, I always install it right over the previous version. I disable putting "Run CCleaner" on the Recycle Bin context menu, but I enable putting "Open CCleaner..." on that menu.

After an installation and upgrade (or two or three), the Recycle Bin loses its special Context menu. To be specific:
- its name is gone;
- its context menu is now that of a plain shortcut, with no Empty Trash or Open CCleaner or Properties.

Uninstalling CCleaner does not fix this. Following the Microsoft knowledgebase tech notes to restore the Recycle Bin does not fix the problem. Nothing I've found yet fixes the problem, so I have effectively crippled every computer on which I've installed CCleaner.

Please help! I'd be happy to work with you to debug this critical problem. Sande

To be specific, I want two things:

1. A way to restore the Recycle Bin to its previous features, regardless of whether CCleaner is installed or not (Most important).

2. A way to make CCleaner work again, with the Recycle Bin context menu correct.

Until I find a solution, everyone to whom I've recommended CCleaner will be advised to remove it immediately. Sande

Before you spread false rumors; consider this. What else did you do when you installed CCleaner?

Empty Recycle Bin is still there on my machine and every machine I've installed CCleaner on.

See if merging this helps:
http://DjLizard.net/recyclebin.reg

Well, DJLizard's registry changes are part of the solution, but not all.

Here are the registry changes recommended in Microsoft's tech note 810869, which are also part of the solution, but not all:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\NonEnum]
"{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"=-

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
@="Recycle Bin"

Using System Restore to fix my Recycle bin yet again (after installing only CCleaner 1.2.1 and waiting one day), I captured the following registry changes. Note this includes both DJLizard's and Microsoft's fixes.

I don't know that this is the complete fix for a PC without CCleaner, yet, but it's closer than anything else I've found. Of course, I make no warranty as to the utility of these registry hacks; you use them at your own risk.

I have no fix for a PC with CCleaner; I'm hoping the author can use what I've submitted to find the CCleaner bugs and fix them. Sande

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
@="Recycle Bin"
"InfoTip"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,32,00,32,00,39,00,31,00,35,00,00,00
"SortOrderIndex"=dword:00000060
"IntroText"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,\
6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,\
00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,\
2d,00,33,00,31,00,37,00,34,00,38,00,00,00
"LocalizedString"=hex(2):40,00,25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,\
6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,00,5c,00,73,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,\
00,5c,00,53,00,48,00,45,00,4c,00,4c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,\
2c,00,2d,00,38,00,39,00,36,00,34,00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
@="C:\\WINDOWS\\system32\\shell32.dll,32"
"Empty"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,31,\
00,00,00
"Full"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,32,\
00,00,00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\InProcServer32]
@="shell32.dll"
"ThreadingModel"="Apartment"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\Shell]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\ContextMenuHandlers\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\shellex\PropertySheetHandlers\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\ShellFolder]
"Attributes"=hex:40,01,00,20
"CallForAttributes"=dword:00000040


[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
"full"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,32,\
00,00,00
"empty"=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,\
00,25,00,5c,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,\
68,00,65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,31,\
00,00,00
@=hex(2):25,00,53,00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,52,00,6f,00,6f,00,74,00,25,\
00,5c,00,53,00,59,00,53,00,54,00,45,00,4d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,\
65,00,6c,00,6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,32,00,00,\
00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\HideDesktopIcons\NewStartPanel]
"{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\NonEnum]
"{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}"=-

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\ShellNoRoam\DUIBags\ShellFolders\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
"ExpandDetailsTasks"=dword:00000000


[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Desktop\NameSpace\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]
@="Recycle Bin"


[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}]

[HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CLSID\{645FF040-5081-101B-9F08-00AA002F954E}\DefaultIcon]
@=hex(2):43,00,3a,00,5c,00,57,00,49,00,4e,00,44,00,4f,00,57,00,53,00,5c,00,53,\
00,79,00,73,00,74,00,65,00,6d,00,33,00,32,00,5c,00,73,00,68,00,65,00,6c,00,\
6c,00,33,00,32,00,2e,00,64,00,6c,00,6c,00,2c,00,33,00,32,00,00,00

This is ironic. I was playing with those keys so that I could help you out, and I made it to where I could delete the Recycle Bin, which is awesome... so I deleted it. It did a *great* job of deleting it apparently... Merged your .reg you just posted and now I have my recycle bin back

So, DjLizard what do you think caused this?

*shrug*

Ok

I bet this is caused by Nail/Aurora or some kind of spyware. I just encountered that problem on a pc and it had Nail on it. After I ran the NailFix the Recycle Bin was working fine.

Good guess, but incorrect. All the PCs in question are free of spyware, according to four different scanners. Spyware has been a problem for us on desktop computers, and I've become quite diligent in monitoring. Sande

Well your "alarming bug" is limited to the computers you work on. Every computer I've installed CCleaner on has never had the Recycle Bin break.

The instance I just mentioned had CCleaner installed, but Recycle Bin was working fine until Nail was contracted. It was when I looked at the HijackThis log and saw Nail.exe in there that I knew it was the problem. You should check with HijackThis, as you may very well have a Nail/Aurora infection. As you most certainly have not shown anyone here otherwise, except by what you have said.

Out of curiosity what are the four scanners that your using?

Ah, you shouldn't question snissen, they're a "PC Systems Admin and Windows expert." They shouldn't "need" to mention the four scanners. Yet, if they were as wonderful as they claim they would have solved this or provided more than enough information to get a fix. Have you noticed how all of their information is very sketchy?

Now, here's the kicker. I'll even bold it.



Let's just say I'm questioning this. I install CCleaner on every machine I work on, and this has never been an issue.

These are not necessarily the scanners I'd recommend, just the ones I had on hand, all with current updated spyware signatures:
1. McAfee VirusScan 8.0i with McAfee AntiSpyware (recently licensed);
2. Spybot Search & Destroy;
3. Microsoft AntiSpyware beta;
4. (Booting from a BartPE boot/rescue CD) Lavasoft Ad-Aware Plus.

HiJackThis also showed nothing unusual.

Had any of them not come out "clean", I'd also have used online scanning resources like Webroot's to check the results. Sande

Interesting, I was mainly just curious about what businesses use to keep spyware off their systems (I know some still do nothing). Now about your issue, I have a question. Do you use any other registry editor/fixer programs? I ask just because none of us have ever seen this issue before and have been installing and upgrading CCleaner for over a year now.

McAfee AntiSpyware returns a lot of false positives and misses actual spyware.

I use no other registry editor/fixer programs. However, like you, I also suspect that one of the several dozen application programs installed on these PCs is causing some kind of conflict. I just can't imagine which.

As long as I can repair the damage, and now I can, I'm satisfied, and will go back to using and recommending CCleaner. Sande

You could try sending Mr.G the programmer a PM. Tell him the programs you have installed, ect. and he might be able to tell you whats going on.

http://forum.CCleaner.com/index.php?act=Msg&CODE=4&MID=1

I can tell you it's not related to CCleaner. I've been installing it on multiple machines over the past week and no such issue. It's something that user is doing that is not related to CCleaner. I love how they gave a "step by step" as any expert would know to do. And yes that is sarcasm.

Something related just happened to me.

Ran a virus/spy/mal scan (Avast, Ewido, Spybot, Adaware), checked with HijackThis and
Procexp (nothing unexpected).

Tried to run ccleaner from context menu on recycle bin, nothing happened. Didn't think
much of it, unfortunately, figured it was a botched install or I'd deleted it (just uninstalled
a lot of software).

Installed latest version of ccleaner, 1.35.424, with the "open from recycle bin" option
(normally I have the "run" option).

Opened it, ran it with defaults (basic check for obvious goofs), all looks good, yadda
yadda.

Manually deleted some files from drive F to clear some space. Noted that free disk space
did not decrease. Hmmm...

As I tried to backtrack from there, I discovered that the recycle directories were gone. The
recycle structure appears to have been destroyed, the reg file above does NOT fix this, the
reg file from MS to restore an empty recycle bin doesn't work, scanning for errors doesn't
free up the disk space, neither does chkdsk (I was desperate). Tried to recover the files
but I can't recover the disk space!

I can't clear space by deleting files - the files "disappear" but the space is still allocated,
and I can't get XP to find and free that space!

My googling led me here. I'm going to keep trying to fix this (it's my main PC - so much for
relaxation or sleep).

I can't say 100% that ccleaner is to blame, but I can't find another cause and this didn't
happen earlier today when I was doing some moving and deleting on the same drive - only
after running the scans and ccleaner.

I'll add a message if I fix this, but it sure smells like ccleaner got a little exuberant in its
deletions and managed to delete some part of the system that XP doesn't automatically fix.

Now I have to delve into the mysteries of the recycle bin, and find out why it isn't rebuilding.
I REALLY don't want to do a wipe n wash on this system - that would eat my weekend with
the huge amount of stuff I have on here!

Have a look here on Kelly's Korner, choose the letter R at the top and scroll down to recycle bin

http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_abc.htm

Welcome to the forum by the way