Deleting the Windows Update folder (Catroot & Catroot 2) to save storage space

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Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
Microsoft MVP (Windows Client) since October 2002

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27 people found this reply helpful

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You are posting to a thrəad from July 13, 2012. Strongly suggest that you start a new thrəad next time rather than posting to rəally old thrəads.

FYI

Try the steps mentioned below, to Rename the ‘Catroot2 and Software Distribution folders’:

1) Click on Start button, type the command services.msc in the Start S ə arch window and press the Enter key.

2) In the «Services» window, locate and right click on «BITS– Background Intelligent Transport Service» and select «Stop«.

3) In the «Services» window, locate and right click on «Cryptography» Service and select «Properties«.

4) In the «Services» window, locate and right click on «Windows Update» Service and select «Stop”.

a) Under Properties Window, click on startup type, and select “Disabled”.

b) Click on Apply. Then click nonstop , and click on “ok”.

c) Minimize the Services window.

5) Click on Start button, type %systemroot% in the Start Search window and press Enter key, to open Windows folder.

6) In the Windows folder, locate and right click on «Software distribution» folder and rename the folder as Software Distribution.old and press Enter key.

7) Under the Windows folder, open «System32» folder. In System32 folder, locate and right click on «Catroot2» folder and rename the folder as
Catroot2.old and press Enter key.

8) Restart the computer for the changes to take effect.

9) After restart check the update History and new updates list.

Check the status of the issue. If the issue persists then please continue with next steps.

Important The following issues occur when you do this:

• Updates that are currently downloaded but that have not yet been installed have to be downloaded again by using Windows Update or Microsoft Update.

• When you delete the Software Distribution folder, your download history is removed.

• If you currently receive updates from Microsoft Update and from Windows Update, you will have to re-select this option from the Windows Update Web site.

Note: If the issue is resolved and you can successfully download and install updates, you can safely delete the SoftwareDistribution.old directory to recover disk space.

3 people found this reply helpful

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Who are you and what have you done with FranklynA?

Are you still having problems with your Vista computer or.

Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
Microsoft MVP (Windows Client) since October 2002

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OT

Hello Robear, I’m glad to read this post and find out you still a live and well, I was wondering what happen to you. Sorry to said I was thinking the worst. I’m glad I was wrong.

Can you said what happen to the Windows Update Forum.

Well Robear, take care and don’t disappear , that magician trick are to much for me. :-p

Reading your posts has always been a learning experience!

One more time, take care and God bless you, and keep you for many more years to come.

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Can you said what happen to the Windows Update Forum.

Apparently the Powers That merged the Windows Update forums & the Repair & Recovery forums into the Update & Recovery forums when Win10 went RTW on 29 July. While Win10 has a Windows Update-specific and a Backup & Recovery-specific subforum, Win8(.1) and older do not. I have no idea why this change was made.

PS: AFAIK all Windows Update forum threads predating the release of Win10 RTW were moved to the generic Windows forum http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum.

Robear Dyer (PA Bear)
Microsoft MVP (Windows Client) since October 2002

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I’m still trying to milk some life out of a laptop with Vista Home Premium. Until a couple of months ago I have always downloaded and installed all important and security updates (including all services packs as well, obviously).

Starting a couple of months ago I began having problems where Windows Updates would remain (apparently forever) in the «Checking for Updates» phase. At one point, I found some online steps to cure. I believe it was the MS util (MicrosoftFixit.wu.MATSKB.Run.exe). (Note — I’m embarrassed that I didn’t do a better job documenting the steps I took to get things working.

Anyway. everything got re-set to having the machine think it had not installed any Windows updates and then it downloaded a boatload of files and everything got updated. I re-ran Windows Updates and it said everything was up-to-date so I thought everything was good.

About a month ago I first noticed that Windows Defender would not update (just kind of froze and never returned from the checking for updates phase). While trying to fix this issue, I found the forever «Checking for Updates. » situation had reappeared with Windows Updates in general and this time I cannot solve.

I ran the sfc /scannow (never knew this cmd existed, I bumped into it during my research so I gave it a shot). It completed and returned the following in the file: (\windows\system32\catroot2\dberr.txt)

The contents of the file are:

CatalogDB: 11:51. 8/30/2016: catdbsvc.cpp at line #6063 encountered error

CatalogDB: 11:51. 8/30/2016: catdbsvc.cpp at line #6138 encountered error

CatalogDB: 11:51. 8/30/2016: catdbsvc.cpp at line #706 encountered error

CatalogDB: 11:51. 8/30/2016: catdbsvc.cpp at line #336 encountered error

It repeats these four errors until dberr.txt contained 500 lines.

Any ideas? (besides upgrading to a new laptop and Win o/s)

How to clear the ‘SoftwareDistribution’ folder on Windows 10 and make updates happen again

On Windows 10, the «SoftwareDistribution» folder is an essential component for Windows Update, which temporarily stores files needed to install new updates to keep your device secure and with the latest fixes and improvements.

This folder is maintained by the WUAgent (Windows Update Agent), and typically, it should be left alone, but there will be times when you may need to clear its content manually in the case the Datastore and Download folders aren’t synchronized, and it’s preventing Windows Update from applying new updates to your PC.

Usually, if you’re having trouble with Windows Update, or after updates have been applied, it’s safe to empty the content of the SoftwareDistribution folder. Windows 10 will always re-download all the necessary files, or re-create the folder and re-download all the components, if removed.

In this Windows 10 guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to delete the content inside the SoftwareDistribution folder. As an alternative option, we’ll also show you the steps to rename the folder, in case you only want to test if the folder’s content is the one causing problems.

How to clear the ‘SoftwareDistribution’ folder

To delete the content inside the SoftwareDistribution folder, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.

Type the following command to stop the Windows Update Service and press Enter:

net stop wuauserv

Type the following command to stop the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and press Enter:

Open File Explorer and browse the following path:

Select all its content and click the Delete button to clear the content.

Quick Tip: In the case, you’re having trouble deleting all the files, simply restart your computer, and try again.

On Command Prompt, type the following command to start the Windows Update Service and press Enter:

net start wuauserv

Type the following command to start the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and press Enter:

Once you completed the steps, Windows 10 will reconfigure the folder and re-download all the necessary components.

How to rename the ‘SoftwareDistribution’ folder

If you don’t want to delete the content inside of the folder, you can alternatively, rename the folder to troubleshoot Windows Update problems.

To rename the SoftwareDistribution folder, do the following:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for Command Prompt, right-click the result, and select Run as administrator.

Type the following command to stop the Windows Update Service and press Enter:

net stop wuauserv

Type the following command to stop the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and press Enter:

Type the following command to rename the folder and press Enter:

rename %windir%\SoftwareDistribution SoftwareDistribution.bak

Quick Tip: If the command isn’t letting you rename the folder, try steps No. 3 and 4 one more time, and then try to rename the folder.

Type the following command to start the Windows Update Service and press Enter:

net start wuauserv

Type the following command to start the Background Intelligent Transfer Service and press Enter:

After you’ve completed the steps, Windows 10 will re-create the folder and re-download all the necessary components.

The only caveat with this process is that the SoftwareDistribution folder also includes the Windows Update history information, which means that emptying up the folder will result in loss of this data. In addition, you’ll notice that Windows Update will take longer than usual to detect and update your computer because the WUAgent must check and re-create the Datastore information. However, it’s a small price to pay to get your device to update again.

While sometimes the folder may grow, it’s only recommended to use these instructions only when necessary. You shouldn’t mess with the SoftwareDistribution folder to free up storage space on your computer.

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For more help articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

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