Can I delete the contents of the SoftwareDistribution download folder without it harming my computer?

Hi Shepherd. I'm Greg, an installation specialist and 9 year Windows MVP here to help you.

It's generally safe to delete the folder once all of the Updates it's staged using that folder are installed. So if you don't have Updates pending on the Shutdown button in Start Menu, I'd go ahead. Even if it deletes some that are installed, it will download them again later.

See this tutorial on how to delete it:

https://www.thewindowsclub.com/software-distrib...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and keep me posted. If you'll wait to rate whether my post helped you, I will keep working with you until it's resolved.

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Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

I doubt it. They should either already be installed or queued on Shutdown button if they're in that folder.

I will give you more steps to both manage smaller drive storage and perform version Updates on them manually by the most stable method that requires much less space than Windows Update.

First here are tips for managing smaller drives:

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3040404/windows...

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/maximize-stora...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/askjack/...

As more space becomes needed, you can move your Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders into OneDrive and then set them to On Demand so they reside in the cloud and only have download links on the PC:

https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/116029-turn...

https://www.pcworld.com/article/3233488/windows...

You can also offload User folders (Documents, Music, Pictures, etc) to another drive you can install on the same PC (even in the DVD drive bay) as shown in this tutorial, which will not affect speed if C is on an SSD and the other drive is not: https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/1964-move-u.... I would not move program files or speed will be affected. You could also install a larger SSD/HDD.

This should make enough space to install Windows Updates. But for now I'd focus on the latest Version update since successfully installing it will bring along all Windows Updates and also resolves almost all other problems since it reinstalls Windows keeping your files and programs in place.

Install the Media Creation Tool on another PC to create bootable media or download the ISO to stick or disk, transfer it back to the target PC to open the media or click to mount the ISO, right click Setup file to Run as Administrator. This avoids needing the space to download the Upgrade and it's staging files. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m...

Another option is to do the the best possible Clean Install in this link which will stay that way as long as you stick with the tools and methods given, has zero reported problems, and is better than any amount of money could buy: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wiki....

This will give you back all but 15gb of the drive.

There is also an automated Fresh Start that reinstalls WIndows while shedding corrupting factory bloatware, saves your files, but doesn't clear the drive to get it cleanest: https://www.howtogeek.com/265054/how-to-easily-...

You can also turn off or block Updates if they are bothering you.

There are ways to block Updates here: https://www.howtogeek.com/223864/how-to-uninsta...

If you want you can set a Metered Connection per the above tutorial, then when ready turn it off to install Updates. You can even wait until the twice-yearly Version Updates to run manually from Media Creation Tool which is a more stable method than Windows Update and includes all previous updates rolled into it. http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/m...

I hope this helps. Feel free to ask back any questions and let us know how it goes. I will keep working with you until it's resolved

________________________________________________________

Standard Disclaimer: There are links to non-Microsoft websites. The pages appear to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the sites that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the sites before you decide to download and install it.

How big is your drive?  Does it have more than one partition?

Go to Disk Management and give us a screenshot.

So, the short answer is: No, it won't hurt the computer?

Will it take longer if I need to update it, for example, say today I deleted the download contents, and the next day I have to update the computer.