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
    2010-08-28T20:12:52+00:00

    Hi widcommbug,

    thanks for your blog.

    I haven´t experienced a full wipeout of the computer yet, but I can confirm that

    • the widcomm bluetooth windows software release  6.2.1.2600 has definitively a serious bug
    • the support here didn´t give any helpful hint to solve the problem up to now 
    • it´s rather vague that it´s a virus, I´ve checked my PC several times and did not find the silightest hint for this

    Instead of wild guess I would be thankful to have a clear analysis of the behavoir and root cause for this

    error. Seems like the support here is out of means, incompetent or even both.

    What a poor service in this forum !

    Cheers,

    Andy

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  2. Anonymous
    2010-08-28T20:35:04+00:00

    Hi Andy,

    We are not saying its a virus, we are saying the uninstall routine acts as bad as one. The actual

    uninstall routine is Widcomm's responsibility and there is nothing we can do in here to correct

    that except steer you to Widcomm's Support.

    Rob Brown - MS MVP - Windows Desktop Experience : Bicycle - Mark Twain said it right.

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  3. Anonymous
    2010-08-28T20:51:09+00:00

    I have the same issue. Same error, and total distruction of my Windows 7 Pro upon uninstallation of the Widcom Bluetooth stack.

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  4. Anonymous
    2010-08-28T22:06:46+00:00

    See, it makes you wonder:  What ever happened to quality control and testing these days?  It seems like companies are more concerned about pushing out products than quality control.  And you know what?  This is exactly what happens as a result!  Bugs, errors, uninstallers erasing your hard drive.  If anyone is to take the blame, it's Widcomm for not properly testing all functions of the software, including the uninstaller.  That's what quality control means!

    Proud owner of a 60GB PS3!

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