Sometimes I get this weird thing where the icon stays full like there's something in there, only there's not. My fix involved moving any old file to the recycle bin, and emptying it.
EDIT:
If that doesn't work, you may try getting rid of the icon and then putting it back up. Maybe hit "F5" to refresh the desktop. Or, someone could be playing a mean trick on you, where they make an image of your desktop, and then setting it as the background. If the image was taken with the recycle bin full, then it would always appear full. Just make sure the background picture is the right one, not something recently created in Paint or something.
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EDIT:
If that doesn't work, you may try getting rid of the icon and then putting it back up. Maybe hit "F5" to refresh the desktop. Or, someone could be playing a mean trick on you, where they make an image of your desktop, and then setting it as the background. If the image was taken with the recycle bin full, then it would always appear full.
-Rick