Prevent Automatic Recycle Bin Emptying

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@jbilinski wrote:

I don't believe this is fixed and sent Product Managers a reminder.  I will note the Recycle Bin shouldn't be emptied if there is under 20 MB

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Hi @jbilinski :

I re-tested today (28-Mar-2022) with more than 20 MB of files in my Recycle Bin and can confirm that the Clean Files scan of SupportAssist v3.10.4 emptied my Recycle Bin.

Recycle Bin Before SA Clean Files Scan:

Recycle Bin After SA Clean Files Scan:

Log of Clean Files Scan on History Tab of SupportAssist v3.10.4:

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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1586 * Firefox v98.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2202.4-1.1.19000.8 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.6.180-1.0.1634 * Dell SupportAssist v3.10.4.18 * Dell Update for Windows 10 Universal v4.4.0 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6635 * CCleaner Free Portable v5.90.9443
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Dear jbilinski ~ it's taken me a year to finally figure out why the Recycle Bin has been resetting itself to 23507MB size, and emptying anything in excess.  I was previously on the phone with a Dell tech, who couldn't figure this out, and has no idea where to even start.  I've turned off the automatic scans, and certainly will never run 'Tune Performance', which seems to be the cause of the Default OS System resetting the Recycle Bin size.  Any idea when Dell might do something about this?  Thanks so much for your help with this..

As a general principle, the Recycle Bin should never be emptied without the user's express permission.  It appears that Dell is never going to fix this problem, making the Clean Files option within Support Assist off-limits and therefore useless.

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@jbilinski wrote:

I don't believe this is fixed and sent Product Managers a reminder.  I will note the Recycle Bin shouldn't be emptied if there is under 20 MB

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Hi @jbilinski :

I re-tested today with SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 (rel. 23-Jun-2022) and nothing has changed.  The Clean Files scan is still emptying my Recycle Bin when it contains more than 20 MB of files.

For my initial test I started with 467 MB of files in my Recycle Bin ...

... and after I ran a Clean Files scan from the SupportAssist Home tab the Recycle Bin was empty. Note that I cleaned my system with CCleaner Free v5.91 just prior to running this test and the History tab of SupportAssist shows that the Clean Files scan cleaned several other system and application files that my custom CCleaner Free scan didn't clean.

I ran a second test with only 32 MB of files in my Recycle Bin (images not posted) and the SupportAssist Clean Files scan still emptied my Recycle Bin, so Dell's maximum threshold to only empty the Recycle Bin when it contains more than 20 MB of deleted files apparently hasn't changed in SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 either.
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64-bit Win 10 Pro v21H2 build 19044.1766 * Firefox v102.0.1 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.2205.7-1.1.19300.2 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.5.10.200-1.0.1709 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.6867 * Dell SupportAssist v3.11.4.29 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v4.5.0 * CCleaner Free Portable v5.91.9537
Dell Inspiron 15 5584, Intel i5-8265U CPU, 8 GB RAM, 256 GB Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 620

Any word on the SupportAssist update? Like many other users I'm also frustrated with the lack of option to leave the recycle bin intact. Sometimes files end up in there unintentionally and you want to be certain that files are trash before permanently deleting them.

Hi ex-jedi,

I once thought that SA was emptying/not emptying my recycle bin randomly.  Then I noticed that when SA DOES empty the bin, it doesn't refresh the desktop.  As a result, the bin icon still shows as full of paper, although the bin is actually empty.  Refreshing the desktop fixes the icon to an empty one, and I've asked Dell to please add a courtesy desktop refresh when SA dumps the bin, so as not to make a confusing liar of the icon.  Of course, no dice.  And STILL no way to suppress the dumping behavior, despite a trail of promises.

I just want to warn people about how insidious this program has become.  When you open it, it encourages you to click 'Start Now'.  If you do that, it begins to run all the tests, one of which, Clean Files, will empty your recycle bin if it contains more than 20 MB.  Even if you close Support Assist, the tests continue to run, and your recycle bin will be cleared if it contains more than 20 MB.

Also, why does it say that this problem is solved when it is clearly not solved?

This problem is clearly not solved, even though it says it is.  The fact that Dell has been unable to solve something this simple in almost two years makes me very reluctant to purchase another Dell product.

When you don't know how to fix something, just mark it 'SOLVED'!

IKR

How can I enhance the anime-watching experience on my Dell laptop? Specifically, what are the recommended graphics settings and media player options to ensure smooth playback and high-quality video? Additionally, are there any additional tips or optimizations that can be applied to achieve an optimal anime-watching experience on a Dell laptop?

It's seems like i'm already too late to prepare what about to happen, while confused on why my recycle bin is empty 25 GB of data emptied without any notice since its my first time using SA. I'm devastated and I would like this problem to actually be solved so that others wont have the same fate as i do.

It's seems like i'm already too late to prepare what about to happen, while confused on why my recycle bin is empty 25 GB of data emptied without any notice since its my first time using SA ...

Hi @Tadanama :

The following comments assume that Dell has not fixed this problem in the latest SupportAssist v4.0.x (rel. 01-Feb-2024). It appears that Dell has temporarily paused the rollout of SupportAssist v4.0.x because of the high number of bugs reported by users - see the Dell support article Wrong Version of SupportAssist for Home PCs is Installed (last updated 27-Mar-2024), which states that "Dell SupportAssist engineering is aware of this and is working on it ... Once the updates are completed, the latest version of SupportAssist will be released and shall be auto upgraded or available for download for users."

Dell employee @DELL-Nikhil K posted <here> in this thread on 25-Aug-2021 that a fix was coming in December 2021 to ensure that SupportAssist would stop automatically emptying the Recycling Bin when it contains more than 20 MB of files. Users have been waiting more than 2 years for this fix so I doubt that Dell actually has any plans to remove this feature from SupportAssist.  Note to original poster @ex-jedi - it would be helpful if you could unmark this topic as "Solved" since Dell never followed through with their promise to fix this Recycle Bin problem.

Also note that there are other issues discussed in this thread about over-aggressive cleaning by SupportAssist's "system optimization" scans (Clean Files / Tune Performance / Optimize Network). For example, see my 12-Jul-2021 post <here> about the registry cleaner included with the Tune Performance scan.

At this point my best advice is that you uninstall SupportAssist from your system.  I removed all SupportAssist-related software from my Inspiron 5584 about a year ago, and I now use the Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.x utility recommended on the support page for my Inspiron 5584 to check for available Dell software and driver updates, the F12 ePSA (enhanced Pre-boot System Assessment) built in to my BIOS to run Dell hardware diagnostics, and Macrium Reflect Free v8.0 disk imaging software (out of support but still fully functional as of Jan 2024) for creating full disk images and emergency recovery media in case I ever have to perform an emergency recovery of my system. There are many other free disk imaging programs besides Macrium Reflect Free like the Paragon Backup and Recovery Free and EaseUS Todo Backup software reviewed in TechRepublic's Top 5 Free & Reliable Hard Disk Drive Cloning Software that you can use if you want to replace Dell SupportAssist OS Recovery (also call Dell SupportAssist Remediation or System Repair).

If you want to keep using SupportAssist v3.x *** I would recommend that you only run the "Get Drivers & Downloads" and "Scan Hardware" scans from the Home tab of SupportAssist and never run the "system optimization" scans (Clean Files / Tune Performance / Optimize Network).  If you haven't already done so you will also need to DISABLE all automatic scanning in your SupportAssist settings at Settings | Automate Scans and Optimizations | Set Your System to Automatically Run Scans and Performance Optimization as shown below in this old SupportAssist v3.13.0 image I captured in December 2022.

*** If you are using SupportAssist v4.x (released 01-Feb-2024) see the latest SupportAssist for Home PCs User’s Guide at https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/dell-supportassist-pcs-tablets/docs since scan names are slightly different (e.g., the "Get Drivers & Downloads" scan in v3.x is now called "Update Software" in v4.x) and the setting to DISABLE automatic scanning is located at Settings | Scans and Optimizations card | Open | Test System Performance | Automatically boost performance, optimize network settings, and remove viruses and malware.
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Dell Inspiron 15 5584 * 64-bit Win 10 Pro v22H2 build 19045.4170 * Firefox v124.0.2 * Microsoft Defender v4.18.24020.7-1.1.24030.4 * Malwarebytes Premium v4.6.11.320-1.0.2302 * Macrium Reflect Free v8.0.7783 * Dell Update for Windows Universal v5.2.0 * My Dell v2.2.6.0