Changing the location of “Windows Update” folder in Windows 7

Normally the Windows Update folder named “SoftwareDistribution” folder is located in %systemdrive%\Windows. All the Windows Update files downloaded by Windows is kept in this folder. This will gradually eat up a lot of space in the %systemdrive%. To change this folder to some other location do the following.

1. Stop the Windows Update service
2. Move the “SoftwareDistribution” folder to the desired drive. Now there will be no folder named "SoftwareDistribution" in the path "%systemdrive%\Windows".
3. Now open the command prompt in “Administrator” mode (Type “cmd” in start menu search box and press ctrl+shift+enter)
4. Change to “Windows” directory by issuing the command “cd %systemdrive%\Windows”
5. Now use the command "mklink" to create a junction point to the “SoftwareDistribution” folder, that you moved to a different drive. The command is “mklink /J SoftwareDistribution <path to the new location>”
6. This will save your system drive from being eaten up by Windows Update