Can my recycle bin empty itself?

Question

I turned on my computer and it was empty. Im positive i didnt do it myself or anybody else living in the house because im the only one who know the 16 digit password.

Answer 1

When you delete a file in Windows, the file appears in the Recycle Bin. The file remains in the Recycle Bin until you empty the Recycle Bin or restore the file. Did you know that older files are also removed from the Recycle Bin when newer files are deleted and the Recycle Bin exceeds the maximum size allocated in Recycle Bin properties.... but this doesn't seem to be your case. So:

First thing, when was the last time you did shutdown?, sometimes if you just leave it on too long it'll screw up and your computer can do weird stuff when it needs rebooted. If this is the case, do a shutdown and check afterwards.
2) Did you run a disk clean up?: When you ask for the property of the disk or thugh Accessories-System Tools, it has te option of Disk Cleanup. That could be the explanation
3) Do you have Norton System Works or other similar software. By default Norton purges ALL files in the recycle bin after a set period of time. to change this or to disable Norton Protected recycle bin simply right click the recycle bin and choose properties then click on the Norton protected tab. there you can either disable Norton recycle bin protection or set the time period you want before files are permanantly purged.
4) You could have your info file damaged or deleted, if this is the case, then no files appear in the Recycle Bin. I don't know how to fix it for Win XP or Win 2k, but you could check the solution for win98 and get some idea:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q136517
5) No files may appear in the Recycle Bin if the files in the Recycled folder are damaged. Same as above, check the solution for Win98

Answer 2

You may have it set to empty after a certain number of days. I'll try to find out how to do that and get back.

Good Luck

I think the option is "remove files immediately" Do not send to recycle bin. You get there by right clicking on the "recycle bin" and "properties." If you have that box checked then uncheck it if you want deleted files to go to the recycle bin.