Anyone an expert on Windows's Software Distribution folder?

The Software Distribution folder in Windows XP (C:\Windows\Software Distribution) - and probably other more-recent versions of Windows - is involved in the Windows Update mechanism. If you opt to have 'Automatic Updates' turned on in Windows and therefore have the OS automatically updated in the background, the downloaded files get temporarily loaded into the Software Distribution folder. A WU Installer then installs each update.

I myself never normally have Automatic Updates turned on in Windows, as I prefer to select the Custom install at the WU website and so therefore vett each update before deciding to download it or not. However, a recent glitch in my usage did turn AU on and consequently a whole bunch of unvetted updates were automatically downloaded to that folder. I managed to turn off AU and stopped the process before they then had a chance to install.

Although each of these unvetted files is stored there in what appears to be an encrypted form, it is possible by some delving to identify by their KB nos. most of the downloads in that folder, though you can't actually get at the raw file (as it were).

The situation I now have therefore is that the WU website is offering me those very updates but that the download time for each is zero. Figures. This unfortunately is beside the point, as what I want is to somehow put them back on to the WU website (so that I can then decide afresh which ones I want to download and install). The fact that they're already on my hard drive makes me feel uneasy, as I know that a good few of them I definitely don't want and if they got installed would foul up my PC in a big way. Besides, this bunch is taking up quite a bit of space, some 800MB or so, would you believe!

So, the question is, How can I remove those downloads from that folder in a sanitary way, so as not to corrupt the WU process or Windows generally? In other Googled-for forums, the advice has been to just delete all of the subfolder called Download. However, that subfolder contains other permanently-required uninstall files, as well as the update logs, so doing that is risky, as it may well lead to everything getting out of sync and/or the user never being offered that group of updates ever again.

So, is there a way of removing the downloaded-but-as-yet-not-installed updates, and effectively putting them back on to the WU server? As I say, I'd rather the unrequired ones be there, rather than on my hard drive. In principle, this seems to be such a simple requirement but is one that clearly needs to be treated with caution.

The C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download folder is used by WU however you configure your updates. e,g. Auto D/Load but let me choose to install.

However you can safely delete the Contents of the Download folder (only) and WU will leave those that have not yet been installed as pending from the WU site. I generally empty this folder after all the updates it contains have been installed.

There are no other permanently-required uninstall files, as well as the update logs in it as you seem to believe. Those are actually in the Windows top-level folder, but that's another story

Another method to click on the the "Updates are Ready" Shield icon, do Custom Install, untick all those items you don't want and then click Close. It will warn you it is hiding those items; you can later unhide them on the WU site, Then empty the Download folder.

Many thanks for your response, XRaySpex.

With this, it's important that we don't misunderstand (even slightly) what either of us are saying. So, just to assure myself, let me ask you, 'Am I correct in you telling me that if I delete the entire contents of the Download folder, WU will (at the WU website) then subsequently present to me in the Custom install way all of the outstanding updates, including those that were previously awaiting in the Download folder and which I'll have just deleted?' It's not that I just want to delete per se those updates from that folder, it's more that I want a second opportunity to possibly download one or two of them afresh, from the website. When they got erroneously downloaded I'd not had time to vett them.

Because of the way in which you yourself manage the contents of that folder, yours might look a little different at present. But if you open any of the subfolders of those encrypted contents in Download, you'll find not only the files spuninst.exe and update.exe but also a plethora of inf and dll files. Elsewhere in Software Distribution are the log files, which as I understand it WU refers to each time you complete a session of updates.

I don't normally opt to be warned of available updates, so I don't see the shield to which you've referred. Instead, I just visit the WU website each month and let WU do the usual scan of my PC.

Addendum: I've discovered that the logs are in the top-level directory of the Software Distribution folder, in a folder called ReportingEvents.log.

I've also now noticed that there's an additional subfolder that's appeared in Download, called Install. It contains an executable called AM Delta Patch 2. I believe this to be a genuine Microsoft Security Essentials definition (I use MSE). So, what should I do with it? Delete it also, or leave it?

If I go ahead and delete Download (or most of it), as you've advised, I'll first of all go to Services and turn off Automatic Updates and BITS. Then I'll turn them back on afterward. After what's happened, I want to play safe.

BTW, what about Windows Registry in this context? Surely, the Registry gets settings added to it during these updates, doesn't it? If so, won't they end up wrongly referenced?

Edited by deleted (Thu 29-Mar-12 15:25:43)

In reply to a post by meditator:

'Am I correct in you telling me that if I delete the entire contents of the Download folder, WU will (at the WU website) then subsequently present to me in the Custom install way all of the outstanding updates, including those that were previously awaiting in the Download folder and which I'll have just deleted?'

Yes! It is not until WU on PC reports back to WU website that an update has been installed that WU website removes it from its list of outstanding.

If you are concerned, why not first take a back-up of Download's contents before deleting them? Then consult WU website and see they are still listed. You can always restore back-up and get back to status quo if you find otherwise, which you won't.

After an WU on XP don't you have within \Windows folders $UninstallKB#####" and files KB####.log? They are the ones for reversing and logging any updates. I don't have any pending updates at the mo' to see what you are getting at but I will look next time I have.

Elsewhere in Software Distribution are the log files

You mean C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\DataStore\Logs? Don't touch those. They are for WU keeping track of itself.

Instead of having to go to WU website regularly, wouldn't it be easier and clearer to turn on Auto Updates but you choose when to install them? You can still review them but you will be more in control.

Addenda

ReportingEvents.log: There is also one in \WINDOWS. They are just past history of WU itself. If you delete them they will just be recreated afresh from present. I don't bother.

MSE Install: The same goes for that. You should be able to still see it on WU Website. Another reason to use Auto D/Load but don't install.

Registry: Nothing in Registry other than keeping track of WU itself. State of updates is kept in all those Download files.

You advised that I perhaps make a backup of the Download folder beforehand. What exactly had you in mind there? It's not as if I could rename each content with, say, a bak extension, because none of the encrypted contents have extensions! I've been intending, in fact, to backup my entire partition, just in case, but that's a fairly big job. It's just that I've wondered what you meant by 'just back up Download'.

In the top-level WINDOWS folder, there's simply the long coloured list of KB unInstall files - relating to ones that have been successfully installed. There are no log files there, as far as I can see. BTW, this is XP, so the way files are used in this area might differ from OS to OS.

Currently, in my Download folder there are three subfolders: SP3GDR, SP3QFE and Update. All those three contain unknown inf, txt, exe, ver, dll, cnv and wpc files. This is why I wonder whether clearing out Download might screw up Windows. On the other hand, those particular files might be re-generated by WU, for all I know, the next time I download and install some Windows updates.

Edited by deleted (Thu 29-Mar-12 16:47:20)

I meant copy/move the complete contents, w/out renaming, to a separate folder of your own, which you may have to create. Make sure you have got Win Explorer to show all system & hidden files.

I am talking XP exclusively; I also have XP.

I'll give it a go tomorrow, and then after that let you know how I got on.

XRaySpex,

I'm afraid you were wrong. Deleting the contents of Download does not effectively put the updates back on to the WU server. I've performed the deletion but the WU website is still listing those particular updates as having already been downloaded and ready to install. So, as far as WU is concerned, it still thinks they're on my PC.

Perhaps I should have temporarily disabled my Firewall and antivirus?

Other than the sorts of files I've already mentioned, there were no system files in Download, as seen with them exposed via the Folder Options/View settings.

I deleted the contents to the Recycle Bin. It seemed just as good as anywhere else, as you can, if necessary, restore them from there. Looks like I'm going to have to do that.

I was possibly correct earlier in presuming that the Windows Registry would keep an eye on where installed and non-installed reside, and that the WU website refers to such settings every time the PC is scanned by WU. Can't think of any other explanation, though as I said earlier the Download folder contains more than just the encrypted 'files'. It contains other subfolders which themselves have a whole mix of inf, txt, exe, ver,dll, cnv and wpc files in them of which, who knows, some may be shared files and so might need to be used elsewhere.

Edited by deleted (Fri 30-Mar-12 11:11:04)

In reply to a post by meditator:

the WU website is still listing those particular updates as having already been downloaded and ready to install. So, as far as WU is concerned, it still thinks they're on my PC.

You're right (partially) . WU site does get a bit confused by what we did and still thinks they are d/loaded and ready to install. But the important thing is that as far as WU is concerned they are still pending for install.

If you now try to install them from WU site it does fail (cuz the files are no longer on PC). However if you now get WU site to rescan for the latest updates, it does find them as not d/loaded but able to install. So back to how you wanted it. They can now be installed successfully.

I have just tried this with my only outstanding update, for Win Defender, and all worked OK and as expected.

Well, having found that the WU website still regarded them as having already been downloaded and were still awaiting install, I clearly didn't then action the WU website to install any of them. That would have destroyed the whole point of the exercise, after all.

Do appreciate that when you enter the WU website and you pick Custom install, the WU server performs a scan on the PC, to find out what's pending and what else potentially needs downloading. It does this every time you opt for Custom install, so it did it when I first returned to WU website.

I then thought that maybe my machine needed a reboot for the mechanism to fully work, so I rebooted Windows and then went back to the WU website, to see if anything changed. Nothing changed. It did a scan but, again, it told me that those updates were still on my PC and ready to install.

I can't understand how it's worked for you but not for me. Again, I wonder whether the Firewall and/or antivirus may have been playing a part.

In the meantime, I've restored my partition to how it was before I attempted anything. It rather looks like I'm stuck with those confounded downloads and will ultimately have to leave a good many of them there for good, in that Download folder.

In reply to a post by meditator:

I can't understand how it's worked for you but not for me.

Cuz you didn't attempt to install them, and fail, while they were absent from PC but WU site thought they were on PC. You could try it out with an innocuous one if you don't believe me.

Not sure I follow your logic. Perhaps what you're saying is that WU actually looked in the logs on my PC to see the status of the downloaded updates, rather than in the Download folder, and so thought that they were still there. Right?

Okay, so if I now try to install an innocuous one and it fails, what does WU then do? Does it just log a failed install and (importantly) clear the pending status at the website, or does it then wipe out the pending status at the website, so that on the next scan it presents the 'lost' update as a potential new download at the website? One could believe that as long as WU always finds out-of-date logs, it will always offer these already-downloaded-but-deleted files.

If I try this, I'll have to start from scratch again.

I'm not saying anything about how WU site "thinks" that the updates are already d/loaded; just that it "thinks" they are for whatever reason I don't care.

In reply to a post by meditator:

Okay, so if I now try to install an innocuous one and it fails, what does WU then do?

Yes, it logs a failed install and on its next scan for new updates it presents the same updates ready for install but not yet d/loaded, which is exactly the state you are after. I thought I said all that in my previous post.

I doubt WU refers to its logs on PC for the status of updates. It's more likely to keep a record on WU site under your own "account" as it does for all your other stuff like your history which includes records of update failures which do not appear on PC.
EDIT: What I have so far not mentioned about these logs on PC is that they decapitated over time (mine go back to only Nov 2010) yet the WU site keeps a history back to year dot.

Edited by XRaySpeX (Fri 30-Mar-12 17:11:38)

I've only just read your latest response, XRaySpex. Sorry if I've seemed a bit pedantic. Between my last response and yours, I repeated everything I did before but also took your additional advice to install a test update from the WU website. It worked!

I then did the same for the remainder of the unvetted updates. So, finally I've ended up with them all on the WU website. That's marvellous. I'm really chuffed about that. I owe you a very big thankyou!

Over the next few days I'll be reviewing all those updates on the WU website, plus a smattering of others there. But some moments ago I thought I'd just pick one for downloading-and-installing, just to check that it'd actually install. It did.

At this point, I'd have thought that there'd be nothing in the Download folder (since the single genuine download-and-install I'd just performed had completed). However, when I looked in Download, there was one folder and about a dozen 'files', all of them alphanumerically-encrypted as usual. I didn't expect anything like that. At the very most, I'd have expected just a single folder that would perhaps then eventually get deleted by Windows on a reboot. Do you understand what's going on there?

You're welcome! I'm glad you've got back to the state you wanted upon my advice

In reply to a post by meditator:

I didn't expect anything like that. At the very most, I'd have expected just a single folder that would perhaps then eventually get deleted by Windows on a reboot. Do you understand what's going on there?

Yes! As I previously indicated the Download folder is used for all WU updates, whether by Auto Update or from WU site, whether just d/loaded or fully installed. That's where the updates are held always while WU does its stuff. They are never auto deleted within a reasonable period if at all; tho' it's possible that WU sets an upper limit on space consumed, but I've never waited to find out.

Once you have installed all the updates residing in it, and done any restarts necessary, you are absolutely safe to completely empty it; that's what I always do. Even if you made a mistake and there was still an incomplete install left, WU would recover as you have just seen.

Imagine hat would happen if you had done all the XP updates to date and for some reason you had to install the same OS afresh from a Win XP CD or the Recovery Partition. WU would realise that all the previous updates would need to be done again.

I still recommend that you do set Auto Update to D/Load but not Install. I think you will find it clearer, cleaner, quicker and more controllable. You will still be able to review each update and decide which ones to exclude.

This is an arcane subject but I have been playing with it for years. I've always found it wasteful to be building up the Download folder unnecessarily.

In reply to a post by meditator:

BTW, what about Windows Registry in this context? Surely, the Registry gets settings added to it during these updates, doesn't it?

Registry records all the fully installed updates. Search it for a known installed KB # and you will find 3 or 4 keys (Updates, Uninstall, ARPCache and HotFix).

Registry does not record any uninstalled update, even if downloaded and pending. Search it for a known as yet uninstalled KB # and you will find nowt.

In reply to a post by meditator:

if you open any of the subfolders of those encrypted contents in Download, you'll find not only the files spuninst.exe and update.exe but also a plethora of inf and dll files.

These are just the (compressed) install files preparatory to activating them.

I commented on the existence of the files spuninst.exe and update.exe (and others) in the Download folder and you say that these are the install files prior to activation. Yes, I agree, but what I was wary about (before the revelation) was that, in deleting the entire contents of Download, those files also would get removed. I presume that WU cleverly reinstalls them during a later download.

I mentioned having consulted some other forums on the Web prior to this but hadn't been convinced of the advice offered. Some of the contributors in those forums were saying that the contents of the Software Distribution folder as a whole would continue to increase (unnecessarily) with time. Indeed, it does look as though that's the case, the main problem area being the Download folder. Many contributors were already quoting sizes of 1.5GB and more. Others, however, were saying that, after 10 days, the contents of the Download folder would automatically zero. (I doubted that; I saw no evidence of that happening on my machine). Further, they were advising to delete the whole of the Software Distribution folder!!! Understandably, there were sequels published in which those who'd tried it had subsequently found their WinXP unreliable, so much so that they had to completely reinstall WinXP.

Edited by deleted (Sat 31-Mar-12 13:09:18)

Yes, only empty the Download folder. Anything further would be risky and unnecessary. My whole Software Distribution folder is only 116 MB after 6 years.

The Download folder is never zero for long; WU always sticks about 8 short text files there which are various s/w Licence Terms. I've never seen it reduce within the month between updates.

Another point to consider is that support for XP ends April 2014. So presumably the volume of updates will dwindle by then.

Noted.

In summary, it looks like my problem's been solved. So, once again, 'Thank you very much indeed, XRaySpex.' Hopefully, our conversation will also prove useful to others. It seems to have attracted a considerable audience.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Yes, only empty the Download folder. Anything further would be risky and unnecessary. My whole Software Distribution folder is only 116 MB after 6 years.

I have many times stopped wuauserv and bits, then rd /s %windir%\SoftwareDistribution and then you start wuauserv and bits, and wuauclt /detectnow

You then will have to select Microsoft Update from the windows update website if you want the updates for office and other tools to be detected.

This process is given in at least one of many KB articles on troubleshooting WU.

Interesting! Think you may be referring to M/Soft Answers to Is it safe to delete files Under C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download?.

As the Download folder swamps the rest of Software Distribution after a monthly update, I think I'll just stick to my age-old emptying of Download folder only, to save messing about with Services and having to access the WU site.

In reply to a post by XRaySpeX:

Interesting! Think you may be referring to M/Soft Answers to Is it safe to delete files Under C:\WINDOWS\SoftwareDistribution\Download?.

And other tech calls into MS - but as renaming the whole folder is safe (which means it can't be found) deleting it is just the same as renaming it, but saves the disc space.

As the Download folder swamps the rest of Software Distribution after a monthly update, I think I'll just stick to my age-old emptying of Download folder only, to save messing about with Services and having to access the WU site.

Yes if disk space is at a premium.