Why doesn't CC do this? Or have I missed it?
Microsoft stated that (at least vista and above) windows update cleaning can stop future updates from being able to be installed
CCleaner used to clean them years ago, however as Nergal stated above it can cause problems.
CCleaner used to clean them years ago....
For XP
I think it could be reimplemented if anyone could figure out what the cleanmgr update cleanup actually deletes on windows 7 and 8
Didn't know the history...thnx. But it's part of DiskCleanup on Win7, with no caveats. It took 5 GBs off my laptop, but don't know where they were....hidden files?
my observations between 7 and 8 lead me to believe somewhere in winsxs
Win...I think here C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
Win...I think here C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download
That's only part of where it would create them, and that's only the cache from Microsoft Update/Windows Update - what it downloads and stores. On XP at least updates would create folders that started with a dollar sign $somefoldername which is what CCleaner used to delete, and had to stop due to complaints.