Trying to delete non existent files on USB external drive

[snowbound]

I have a small SSD in a USB3 enclosure and have set up a mirror sync from 2 folders on my computer hard drive and am frequently mirror syncing files from computer to the USB drive. However lately FreeFileSync thinks there are files in the Recycle bin on the external drive and tries to delete them and fails. Is this a known issue and is it fixable? Thanks

120 non deletable files

2018-10-05_093657.png (222.39 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

Eror during synchronization

2018-10-05_093635.png (190.75 KiB) Viewed 1652 times

[Radish]

If it was me I would try emptying the Recycle Bin using a command window (with administrative privileges). Google

batch delete "recycle bin"


and you will get hits that explain how to do this.

Above said, I don't understand why your FFS is bothering with the contents of the Recycle Bin at all. At least in my FFS Default filters are set to "Exclude"

\System Volume Information\
\$Recycle.Bin\
\RECYCLER\
\RECYCLED\
*\desktop.ini
*\thumbs.db\


Have you altered those filters in any way? Are they absent from your FFS Exclude Filters?

[snowbound]

Yes the excludes are still there in the defaults for the app. I just ran the same Sync today and it ran fine. I don't know why I was having that issue 5 days ago. Will keep an eye on it.

[Plerry]

… lately FreeFileSync thinks there are files in the Recycle bin on the external drive and tries to delete them and fails.

The error message does not suggest FFS (FreeFileSync) thinks there are files in the Recycle bin that it tries to remove, but rather that there are files (in some yet obscure file location ...) it wants to delete by moving these files to the Recycle bin.

As this apparently is a USB stick, it most likely does not have a Recycle bin, so moving files there is then not possible.
You can try changing the "Delete files" setting in the Synchronization Setting (F8) from Recycle-bin to Permanent.

P.S.
Looking at the name(s) of the files (my reference to "some yet obscure file location") , it seems your FFS-sync (also) includes the / some sort of recycle bin.
Normally one would exclude the Recycle bin from a sync, e.g. via the Exclude filter, which is basically what the reaction from Radish is about.
Looking at the names in your left-right comparison results, you apparently have a folder called "RecycleBin.dc31", which is presently included in the sync (with all or quite some of its content).
Looking at the default content of the Exclude filter, that folder will not be excluded.
You can try adding a line like "*/RecycleBin*" to your Exclude filter. This would exclude any file in any folder within your left and right base locations of which the folder-name starts with "RecycleBin".

[Zenju]

"RecycleBin.<random digits>.ffs_tmp" is a temporary folder that FreeFileSync is using to collect all the to-be-recycled files in one place. All these files will then be moved to the actual recycle bin in a single batch operation at the end of the sync (even when the sync is cancelled)

The fact that the "RecycleBin.dc31.ffs_tmp" folder is shown on the first screenshot means that cleanup of this folder during a previous sync has failed.

[Lamproly]

Is it then safe to delete the "RecycleBin.<random digits>.ffs_tmp" folder?

I've had this problem quite recently on a USB harddrive and deleted the folder, but it caused some more errors which unfortunately I can't remember. I did resolve it somehow. But for future reference, is it safe to just delete it or are there other steps?

May this problem be caused by removing the hard drive or shutting down the PC despite the warning "still in use by some process"? I'm getting this warning often, but usually after FreeFileSync is closed and I've waited some time.

[Zenju]

Is it then safe to delete the "RecycleBin.<random digits>.ffs_tmp" folder?

The folder contains "deleted" and "overwritten" files from last sync, so you decide that.

May this problem be caused by removing the hard drive or shutting down the PC despite the warning "still in use by some process"?

Definitively :)