How to delete $RECYCLE.BIN folder on external hard disk?

In Windows Explorer's Folder Options dialog, along with ensuring Show hidden files, folders, and drives is selected, you need to ensure the Hide protected operating system files option is not selected.

This should show you all the Recycle Bin folders/files marked with +H and +S attributes.

You can get rid of the entire $Recycle.Bin folder if you're an admin user or via a Linux LiveCD, but Windows will recreate it once you delete some more files on the same drive.

The $RECYCLE.BIN directory can be deleted from Windows command line rmdir /q /s C:\$RECYCLE.BIN as described in the first answer to this similar question, although as a system virtual folder care should be taken. Also, it will get recreated upon deletion of files from the drive containing it.

In Windows 7 to empty the Recycle Bin on your external hard-drive, go to "Computer" click on the hard-drive, then right click on the hard-drive and select 'Properties." On the General tab, click Disk Cleanup. It then shows the space you will save by deleting contents of the Recycle Bin. You can view the files or delete them. The message on this tab "The Recycle Bin contains files you have deleted from your computer. These files are not permanently removed until you empty the Recycle Bin.

Ramona Grimsley