How to restore Windows Vista Recycle Bin & other desktop icons

I had a customer call today with a problem restoring his Windows Vista recycle bin icon. He'd deleted it without thought because he didn't like the look of the glass icon. It was only once it'd gone that he realised it was a pain in the backside to check it's contents and restore or permanently delete files from it.

He'd managed somehow to put a recycle bin icon back on the desktop and although it was working, the empty/full images were not refreshing until the machine was rebooted.

Anyway, here's how to restore the recycle bin (or any other standard desktop icons) in Vista:

Firstly right-click on the desktop and select Personalize (you can also pull this up from the Control Panel). In the top right-hand corner of the window that appears you will see the link 'Change desktop icons'. Click this.


You will now be shown a new dialog box:

Simply check the Recycle Bin box and click OK or Apply and your Recycle Bin will be restored as normal.