I'm not sure whether to post a new thread or add to this one but since I have somewhat of the same problem...
My recycle bin icon is what I think of as the default (the first icon choice in shell32.dll) instead of the waste basket. This resulted after I had to manually remove NSW (Norton) 2002 from the registry as a result of a crash. I have tried the "recycled.reg" fix as well as checked every registry reference to "shell32.dll, 32" or "shell32.dll, 31" all of which seem to be correct. Nothing seems to get me back to the right icon. The recycle bin seems to be intact and working properly and the properties seem correct, but the icon is just wrong.
Any ideas?