If you are familiarizing yourself with Windows 7, then there are many things you’ve found that have changed even since Vista.

For me, I love to have my repetitive, mundane tasks be as short as possible. Emptying my recycle bin with the fewest clicks is probably the most important time saver for me. It’s crucial to me, because I never let me recycle bin get too full, as I am always deleting huge files and can’t afford the space.

Since I’ve taken the leap to Windows 7, Microsoft hasn’t made it easy to implement my favorite right-click context entry. I’ve searched and searched, but nobody seems to know what the string is to add it correctly to the registry.

I’ve found a work-around that is as close as I can get to emptying the recycle bin using my right-click menu. The download includes 2 files–an EXE file that runs a command to empty the recycle bin, and a REG file that adds a shortcut command to your right-click menu.

Download Add Empty Recycle Bin to Right-Click (Windows 7)

File size: 37.59 kB

Installation Directions:

1. Extract the install files from the ZIP.
2. Copy “EmptyRecycleBin.exe” to the location of your choice. I’ve set the registry file to point to “C:\Windows\System32″, but if you want to change it, then you will have to edit the registry file too.
3. Double-click the .REG file to add it to your registry. Again, if you didn’t copy the .EXE file to the System32 directory, the you will need to edit the .REG file to reflect where you put it.

   *Note: This is merely a temporary work-around until someone finds a solution using only a .REG file without the need of an EXE.

   
   

   Tags: empty recycle bin context menu

If you are an advanced PC user like me and want to maximize your productivity and minimize little time consuming tasks, this tip will surely be useful for you.

I like to keep track of everything that I delete and am always conscious of what I leave in my recycle bin. When I delete something, I leave it in the recycle bin until I know for sure that I will not need it anymore. Throughout one day, I empty my recycle bin so many times that I can’t even count. By default, to do this in Vista, you have to run your mouse over to your recycle bin on the desktop or down to the quicklaunch bar where I keep mine and then you have to right-click on it to empty it.

Now comes this great utility–adding “Empty Recycle Bin” to your right-click menu no matter where you right-click. You can right-click on the desktop or in any folder within explorer and empty your garbage, the resume your work without excess mouse running or taking your eyes’ focus off your current page or document.

All you need to do is tweak a few registry settings via the following registry files. The first is to enable the right-click function, and the second is to disable it. I have tested both registry files and they are clean and both function perfectly. The enabling file adds data to your registry and the disabling file removes what the former file adds. Get either file below.

• Add Empty Recycle Bin to your Right-Click context menu
• Remove Empty Recycle Bin from your Right-Click context menu

Tags: empty recycle bin context menu