Clear Windows Update Cache XP

I recently had a lot of problems trying to get Windows Update to work on a totally fresh build of XP using an XP plus SP3 iso downloaded from the Microsoft web site!

I tried a ton of things, I'm not sure what fixed it, but one thing I did was to clear the Windows Update cache.

Basically this is the place where all the updates are downloaded to before then being installed. It is the folder: C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution.

You can safely delete the contents of this folder with no ill harm to your PC.

Before you do that, you must stop the Windows Update service using this command at a command prompt:

net stop wuauserv.

Use this command then delete the contents of that folder (you can delete the entire folder itself if you want). Then restart the service with:

net start wuauserv.

Now go back to the Windows Update site and try again.