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

This is some unresolved issue.  As a life long technology professional, please spare the notion that I may have made a mistake, except the unforeseen one, that the latest software from a computer vendor continues to possess this catastrophic bug.  And as we say in the business there is no single throat to choke, so in my case, Microsoft, Dell and Broadcom are all at fault here in my opinion. 

There are around 33 REGISTERED users just on this thread that are aware of or have been damaged due to this bug.  That means the issue is far more prevalent and needs more attention, since who would think to check in advance if a Setup Program/Uninstall routine would actually delete any files that are not specific to that Bluetooth software.

The only good thing about this is that it is NOT a virus.  So in my case it can still occur today. And it did yesterday. While cleaning up a Dell 1557 Studio I downloaded a more recent WIDCOMM driver from the Dell website for WIDCOMM Bluetooth Software and yes it started deleting User data AND setup/settings files in that account.  And YES there is a DCOM issue that also shows up in the event log further motivating those that like to run an efficient install to update.

Like most software updates/installs and uninstalls the routine will not run without Administrator privileges and when allowed it now has the power to trash the user account 100%.  I wonder how many have been affected that just assumed they had a virus!

Yes I was lucky having the right backups. You need two. The image and a files and settings incremental. A system restore done right before that also needs Volume Shadow turned on is not 100% fool proof.  Without both Image and incremental you will lose files, settings and setup information, likely all three.

I noticed some tedious steps that people need to follow to get the latest update.  Just don't expect  99.999% of people using the software to even try and follow it without getting into more trouble.

Hello this thing still can happen in May 2013. I am currently restoring a full system backup after facing the same situation. I own a Dell E6410. It started with a bluetooth problem, then a driver update, that lead to an error message, then after reboot, a problem with a driver (compbatt.sys) that I solved easily, and then the BSOD that made me find out that many files had been deleted. Lucky me, all my documents and personal stuff are on the D: Drive, a long time habit with windows ... So even if my Users directory is half empty, I guess this bug did not delete the files on the other drive. After several years of the same ****, Broadcomm really deserves to be sued. I also blame Dell and other laptop manufacturers who seemingly did not take necessary steps to analyse the situation and remove the faulty drivers / warn the users.

It borders on the criminal.  My suggestion that it may indeed be a *civil* matter has attracted the attention of one vendor involved, at least in my case...   Will let you know what happens.

Same thing here. Uninstallation of broadcom bt software from my Lenovo T61 wipes out my Win 7 installation! WTF!???? Found all these threads and posts in many many blogs and forums about this now! I'm working with PCs for 20 years and I'm a system administrator for a huge school network but this is the worst f****** thing I've ever seen! I don't blame Microsoft for that, nor do I blame Lenovo but tell me: how is it possible, that Broadcom is still out there doing business!??? Isn't there a chance to blow their a...... off!? I Although I have a backup, many important files are lost! What can we do to get a response from Broadcom? I can't believe that they didn't fix this sh.... for years now....!?