How do I get Windows 7 to NOT use the recycling Bin on a removable drive?

but Windows still creates the "Recycling Bin" folder

That is pretty easy to be avoided:

Delete the folder, open Notepad and save the blank file as $Recycle.Bin in the root directory of the drive in question, now Windows cannot create the folder.

enter image description here

If you want to use the Recycle Bin again on this drive, just delete the file.

enter image description here


Mount the drive under a Linux disk like Clonezilla and make a sector-by-sector copy. That way you have a copy to mess with and not the original. I don't think you can stop the default Windows process of creating a hidden Recycle Bin folder in each drive, but many Linux systems (like Puppy Linux) will not touch the drive with a write operation until you tell them to.

EDIT: My bad I was responding to a different post. However, if you boot your Windows machine with a Puppy Linux disk, THEN insert your external drive, you can delete the recycler and move your mp3s to your drive without getting any unwanted files written to the drive. Then you can remove your mp3 drive, remove the Puppy disk, and reboot to Windows without too much hassle. I don't know of any actual way to stop the hidden recycler file from being thrown on the drive, but this would work around it.


Recycle Bin is a system directory and gets created anyway. There may be a registry hack, but restoring the OS, or installing a hotfix may reset it - so don't bother.

To avoid seeing the Recycle Bin, do the following:

  1. Hide operating system files in "Folder and search options":

    enter image description here

  2. Make sure deleted files do not get copied to the Recycle Bin (by right-clicking it):

    enter image description here

  3. Hide the Recycle Bin by personalizing the desktop:

    enter image description here