Won't even need to stop the service, as long as you don't plan on removing those updates, then there is no harm in deleting the SoftwareUpdates folder.

If the location where Windows 7 saves the update files becomes corrupted, then updates may not load. The temporary update files are stored at C:\Windows\SoftwareDistribution\Download and that folder ...

If the Windows folder is too big on your Windows 11/10 computer, use the suggestions provided in this article to decrease its size and free up disk space. By default, the Windows operating system is ...