Solved Manual Win Update folder remnants - safe to delete?

Hi, all:

Are the folders in the C: drive shown in the screen shot from my Win7 laptop safe to delete?

The main reason I ask is that I am surprised to see them in the root of the C: drive.

I found them "by accident" a few days ago.
I did not create those folders in that location; Windows did.
They all appear to be leftovers from failed attempts several months ago to manually install Windows Updates BEFORE the underlying issue was eventually fixed by installing KB3020369 and KB3172605.

So, since all critical and important patches are now installed via the regular Win Update applet, and the system is fully patched and updating correctly, can these apparent old leftovers be removed safely?

(Yes, I know about creating a RP, backups and a system image before doing so....)

Thanks,
MM


P.S. I have fewer, similar such folders on my Win7 desktop, too. I was having the same problem -- along with so many other users -- on that box, too. It is fixed there, too. So if they are safe to delete from one box, I assume they ought to be safe to remove on the other.

I don't want to say I'm 100% sure that it's okay to delete them. All I know is that I often see such folders on my own machine typically created on the drive with the most free space after downloading and installing updates. I usually delete them next day.

Thanks for the feedback, @Callender.

Yep, I know they relate to WU.
The timestamps date back to failed attempts to manually install some of the "workaround" patches to solve what at the time was the widespread Win7 update issue.

Since the problem has since been resolved, these folders do appear to be harmless leftovers.
I had never seen such WU-related folders created in the root of C: before (or since) on any Win7 box.
Then again, I've never had serious WU issues until that recent problem popped up a few months ago.

So do others agree: they are OK to delete???

Thanks!

MM

Okay more research reveals why those redistributable installers and/or updates from Microsoft extract their files to a root directory. It’s the installers’ fault.

The folders should normally be removed when the installation is complete, but sometimes they are not - especially if the installation fails.

On that basis it's okay to delete them.

ROOTDRIVE property (Windows)

Hi, again:

That makes perfect sense.

I'll take a crack at it, probably over the weekend, after I've done my ~weekly backups/imaging, just to be safe.

I'll report back when I have done so.

Thanks again,

MM

Try using Disk Cleanup and see if it removes them.
Make sure you have Windows Update Cleanup check marked.

After you reboot your computer (after installing updates) the folders are no longer needed. They are safe to delete, however at times you may get errors trying to delete them as permissions will not allow you. You may have to take ownership of the folder/files in order to delete them.

Layback Bear said:

Try using Disk Cleanup and see if it removes them.
Make sure you have Windows Update Cleanup check marked.

Click to expand...

Thanks. Good idea for disk cleanup.
Gonna shy away from that Windows Update Cleanup, though.
I've heard mixed things about it.
Since these folders are harmless, I don't want to fix one problem and create another.
Thanks!

Firefox said:

After you reboot your computer (after installing updates) the folders are no longer needed. They are safe to delete, however at times you may get errors trying to delete them as permissions will not allow you. You may have to take ownership of the folder/files in order to delete them.

Click to expand...

Ah, indeed.
OK, I will keep an eye out for that.
Thanks for the tip.
I would not have thought of that.

Will post back in a few days when I have given it a whirl.

Cheers,
MM

I've never had any problems with Windows Disc Clean Up. I run it fairly regularly, particularly a week or so after a big Windows Update & I run it as Administrator & that cleans up the Windows Updates.

A note worth keeping in mind is that Windows Disc Clean Up does not remove any files until you reboot the computer. If you have a lot of Updates to clean up you will get a notification during shut down that clean up is running.

Hi, @Ranger4:

Yep, I agree -- never had a problem with the native Windows Disk Cleanup itself under Win7.

But that "Update Cleanup" thing (KB2852386) caused problems for some folks, so I have not used it.
Again, since these folders are causing no problem, I'm leery to undertake anything overly ambitious.
I hate to fix something that is not broken.

But, like I said, I'll report back in a few days when I've had a chance to try removing those leftover folders.

Thanks for the extra tips,

MM

You are welcome MM & good luck with removing those folders.

Update:

All folders deleted without any issues (yes, I had to OK the UAC prompt, but that was it).

They are in the Recycle Bin for now. But have installed this week's updates and rebooted several times since then, without incident. Will dump them from RB soon, to be fully rid of them.

Will mark as SOLVED.

Thanks, all

MM

Glad to hear it, no need to keep them in the RB... toss them out....