Script or command to delete contents of Software Distribution folder?

Hello,

Save the the below text a Notepad. And save it as a batch file. i.e.

File > Save as > <filename>.bat

Note: You have to Right Click on the Batch File and Run as administrator

Code:

net stop wuauserv
ren %windir%\SoftwareDistribution SD.old
net start wuauserv

Hope this helps,
Captain

teckneeculler said:

Later: Sorry, it didn't do the whole job. What I've ended up with after a reboot is:

a) A folder named SD.old that still contains the original files. What I was aiming at was a quick way of emptying the contents of the SoftwareDistribution\Download folder.

b) Oddly, perhaps because I routinely disable Windows Update, there's no fresh incarnation of C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution together with its attendant subfolders. Still, that's no BFD, I guess if Update was turned on, the folder might have been rebuilt.

Any suggestions?

I believe so. We used to rename that folder to troubleshoot Windows Update issues. Once you update through Windows it should rebuild the folder.

To empty the contents you could try this command

Code:

del %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Download\. /f /q
for /f "tokens=*" %%i in ('dir %windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Download\. /b') do rd "%windir%\SoftwareDistribution\Download\%%i" /s /q

teckneeculler said:

Thanks for the command. How would it be if I saved it as a bat file?

Copy it to a Notepad. Then go to File > Save as > filename.bat and save it. Make sure when you run it right click and run as administrator.