Widcomm Uninstalltion wipes out the computer. New Virus or Windows Voulnerability.

Anonymous
2010-07-09T05:33:11+00:00

VERY SERIOUS BUG/VULNERABILITY WIDCOMM BLUETOOTH SOFTWARE

Uninstalling Widcomm bluetooth software from control panel wipes out all data, programs and the boot sector on the computer.

I have tried to report this to microsoft but can't find out how. Please report this to the appropirate department.

I have windows 7 home premium. I tried to update my widcomm bluetooth software by downloading and installing the upgrade. The installation fails giving error 1935. After that the existing widcomm software becomes nonoperational. I tried to uninstall the widcomm bluetooth software from control panel the message "please wait while windows configures Bluetooth software". As it works all files from the hard drive are deleted, the desktop becomes empty, all open programs are deleted, all app data is deleted, the start menu becomes empty and finally it asks to reboot. After reboot the computer gives boot error message and does not boot up.

I had to install windows again to get the computer working. All data was lost. The anti virus was up to date and recent scans were all good. Windows was up to date. It appears that the error is from windows uninstaller some how going haywire when trying to remove widcomm bluetooth software. After restoring my computer I installed widcomm bluetooth software, copied the hard drive and tried to uninstall widcomm again. Results were exactly the same and I got screen shots from the beginning to the end. I have tried it on multiple computers with the same results (cloned the disk before)

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Windows update

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Anonymous
2011-02-05T00:50:32+00:00

Hi widcommbug,

yes, things are getting wild here...I don´t know why.

Maybe I can help you, here is what I did- and it worked:

  1. I´ve deinstalled all versions of widcomm bluetooth software with the windows program deinstallation in the system tools.
  2. I´ve restarted the PC
  3. I´ve cleaned up the registry with a tool (I do not rely on any, I´ve used registry mechanic, which is the same as Norton Utillities 14- but it works more or less)
  4. I´ve downloaded the latest version of widcomm bluethooth software here:

http://forum.gsmhosting.com/vbb/f237/widcomm-bluetooth-driver-6-4-0-670-a-1197332/ 

click on "deposit files", and you´ll get version 6.3.0.7000 of Lenovo widcomm bluetooth software which is the same

as original widcomm bluetooth.

  1. Download it.
  2. Extract it to a folder
  3. Only use the file Broadcom_Bluetooth_6.4.0.670.exe out of the zip archive. Drop the rest.
  4. If you´ll click on this .exe file you´ll only get some weird screen all filled up with ????, so you´ll have to use a different way:
  5. Exctract Broadcom_Bluetooth_6.4.0.670.exe once again to a folder and then click on the file setup.exe

Then, the software will install correctly.

Well, this is weird, agreed. I found it out only a few trials. Remember, this software is leaked from Lenovo, but

it is the latest version I found, it is 100% Widcomm Bluetooth Software.

Here you have prove of what Widcomm is doing:

It does not provide the latest widcomm bluetooth software for free, but only for notebook manufacturers.

Widcomm doesn´t give a single hint on this policy on their homepage- private customers seem to be

unimportant for Widcomm- and still no amendment with the update bug in this software- really poor.

But no way to kid me.

BR

Andy

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  1. Anonymous
    2011-07-21T22:27:17+00:00

    Unfortunately the only people responsible for drivers are the manufacturers of the hardware.

    If and when they release a 'bad driver' which gets into a OEM release, it causes mayhem such as we have seen here, and there is no easy way out unless the OEM releases a 'working update'.

    It's obvious now that this is unlikley to happen  - and Dell users appear to be stuffed.

    There is an update on the Dell site - all I can suggest is a reinstall, followed by immediate visits to Dell to update the drivers.

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  2. Anonymous
    2011-07-21T17:41:53+00:00

    The whole point of this thread is that the problem happens when using the recommended software.  I just had it happen on my brand new Dell Insperion laptop when trying to update the Bluetooth software using the drivers from the Dell support website.  The installer gives an error and then all my files are deleted, the computer won't reboot and I have to do a full system image restore.

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  3. Anonymous
    2011-06-06T16:39:09+00:00

    Dell Latitude E4200 only 4 months old running Windows 7 Pro

    Bluetooth stopped working so decided to re-install/update drivers.  Downloaded latest from Dell website using machines service tag and for appropriate OS and the installation was taking several hours and never did finish, appeared to get stuck.  Canceled installation and restarted machine.  After restarting installation this time is was doing an uninstallation instead.  Figured would let it finish then re-run again to actually install.

    However during the uninstallation icons started disappearing from the desktop, windows explorer and internet explorer links did not work.  This threw up a red flag so I killed the uninstallation but it was too late.

    System Restore within windows at that point failed. Upon which i restarted the system.  System no longer boots up not even to safe mode.

    * Startup recovery for windows 7 failed.

    * System restore within startup recovery (advanced options failed).

    Used CD boot up Ubuntu 9.10 with NTFS file recovery program to "undelete" the user data that I could to an external hard drive.  Avoiding any writing to the internal hard drive to allow for the best possible chances of data recovery.  Unfortunately alot of the data recovered was corrupt though I was able to recovery some user data using this method.

    Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module
    Release Date: 1/22/2010
    Version: 6.2.1.100, A04-2
    Download Type: Application
    File Format: Hard Drive
    File Size: 61 MB

    I have notified Dell but they do not appear to have this issue in their knowledge base and the repair is left to me. Yay! So remember to get a FULL SYSTEM IMAGE before you attempt to update your bluetooth drivers LOL!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2011-03-14T17:15:13+00:00

    If you need to reinstall the Widcomm Bluetooth Software please visit http://www.broadcom.com/support/bluetooth/update.php.

    You can also check your PC manufacture website for the correct Software package (e.g. for Dell PC please visit http://support.dell.com). I would recommended to use only genuine Software packages to ensure the compatibility  with your PC, Laptop or Notebook.

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