It is thus required by windows update and maintained by wuagent. Search for command prompt, rightclick the result, and select run as administrator. As the user mentioned the automatic updates service and not windows update, that suggests to me that he is using windows xp, not windows 7. Delete windows update files in windows 7 from cmd or windows. Software directory for windows xp 3264 bit in english. Usually, if youre having trouble with windows update, or after updates have been applied, its safe to empty the content of the. Incidentally, the folder seems to named softwaredistribution on my xp machines, but software distribution with a space on my win7 pc. We recently had to change the name of our wsus server, actually rebuilt it and used a different naming convention.
So, if youre considering switching out xp for linux mint, heres how youd go about it. Delete or rename software distribution folder on windows. Click the group policy tab, select the policy that you want, and then click edit. In the console tree, rightclick your domain, and then click properties. To delete the content inside the softwaredistribution folder, do the following. When you delete the software distribution folder, your download history is removed. Software distribution folder posted in windows xp home and professional. Note if the issue is resolved and you can successfully download. What is the purpose of the windowssoftwaredistribution. The software distribution folder in windows xp is a system folder used to store setup information for updates and other programs. In this guide, well show you two ways to reset the softwaredistribution folder to fix windows update on your computer running windows 10.
Verify that the new software distribution folder created when you restart the update service is approxiamtely 1. After the service is started a new softwaredistribution directory is created and now you. Rename or delete the software distribution folder in windows 1087. Most of the time, you can delete the contents of the folder to free up disk space. Type the following command to stop the windows update service and press enter. I recently i noticed my windows partition was filling up with stuff in the c.
Rename or delete software distribution folder in windows 10. Wsus reset and delete softwaredistrib ution folder this script has been tested however, use at your own risk. After you have installed all the pending updates, it is safe to delete all the files and folder under c. For example, to distribute microsoft office xp, run the administrative installation setup. If you stop automatic updates you can delete all the folders contained in the softwaredistribution folder then restart automatic updates. Rename software distribution folder microsoft community. It is generally speaking safe to delete the contents of the software distribution folder, once all files required by it have been used for installing.
You should be able to delete the folder by booting into safe mode and simply renaming the folder. Active directory software distribution techrepublic. This means that its recommended not to be deleted, as it is needed by windows update and maintained by wuagent. Change directory to the folder containing the downloaded script. Software distribution properties are accessible from the administrative node by selecting administration overview site configuration. How to clear the softwaredistribution folder on windows 10 and.
How to clear the softwaredistribution folder on windows. After the service is started a new softwaredistribution directory is created and now you can delete softwaredistribution. The software distribution folder is one of these files. If youre running windows xp or vista, the microsoft article includes a few additional steps interspersed4. Folder windows\softwaredistribution\download january. The folder contains information and files necessary for the installation of system updates and downloaded software. How to use group policy to remotely install software in. Rename or delete the software distribution folder in. To do this, click start, point to administrative tools, and then click active directory users and computers. Also i stuffed up wu on 800 pcs at work and the easiest solution was to delete the entire software distribution folder via a simple script.
Backup or rename the software distribution folder if you wanted to make a backup, and thats a good idea, we can rename the software distribution folder so it can be deleted or restored later. Now locate softwaredistribution right click on it and select rename. Script or command to delete contents of software distribution folder. I have winxp setup on a 5 gb partition with all my apps setup on another partition. Under computer configuration, expand software settings. Windows xp systems have typically been around longer than windows 7 systems and so they will have larger softwaredistribution folders 3 sps instead of 1 for windows 7. It is located in the windows directory, where it temporarily stores files used for updating windows software.