ReverseC Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 I have WinXP setup on a 5 GB partition with all my apps setup on another partition. I recently I noticed my Windows partition was filling up with stuff in the C:\Windows directory. I found that the directory C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Downloadis 569 MB. I am not familiar with how Windows uses stuff from this directory...all I know is that this is where windows updates are kept. Would it be possible to delete all these files (or most of them) in this directory or does the OS constantly load up files stored here? Thanks in advance,Charles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpatto Posted March 5, 2005 Share Posted March 5, 2005 If you stop Automatic Updates you can delete ALL the folders contained in the SoftwareDistribution folder (then restart Automatic Updates)......Ive not come across any problems doing this and believe it should be safe to delete. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soldier1st Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 if i were you i would avoid deleting stuff from thag folder as it may be needed later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dell and Rodney Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 This folder is safe to delete - its only used to store windows updates - occasionally this becomes full and ppl have problems with windows update therefore its perfectly safe to delete. OR if you in a position now that you dont know whos right and whos wrong then burn the contents of that folder to disk and then delete it delete the folder from the system and see if you come across any problems Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeremy Posted March 6, 2005 Share Posted March 6, 2005 if i were you i would avoid deleting stuff from thag folder as it may be needed later on.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Stop being afraid of the System32! It's not as dangerous as everyone thinks! I have gone trhough every file in Windows. There is a lot of junk that can be removed. Do not tell a user what he/she can or cannot delete unless you know exactly what you're talking about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReverseC Posted March 6, 2005 Author Share Posted March 6, 2005 Thanks for the help! What I'm going to do is just move this folder to another partition. I'll probably wait a week and see if any errors come up regarding this folder. If no errors I'll delete it or burn it to disk.Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HasseB Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Thanks, a had the same problem but its gone now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
submix8c Posted February 21, 2011 Share Posted February 21, 2011 Just the Folder Contents, not necessarily the whole folder...AutoUpdates is a 2-step (?) process -1 - Download to that folder and "expand" to sub-folders the Update file(s)2 - Install from the sub-folders and store2a - the Uninstall "backup" (previous files "replaced") info in various $NTUninstallxxx folders2b - the Hotfix install (for tracking) to $HF_MIG$ folder (ref. here)Item 1 (contents, not the Folder) are safe to deleteItem(s) 2a, if deleted, will prevent you from uninstalling a given UpdateItem(s) 2b, if deleted, may/will cause a cross-module (i.e. erroneous) future installNot exactly positive about #2a-b and not really sure if the Folder will be recreated (if deleted) but positive about the Contents (safe to delete).Warning (to be safe)! Best to turn off AutoUpdates first and be sure no Updates are actively installing, delete, then turn updates back on (if you wish).Note - If your original install is pre-SP3, then another folder(s) is created containing the Service Pack(s) and should also be left alone... kind of becomes "part of the original install". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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