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

Anonymous

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)

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Anonymous

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:

I´ve deinstalled all versions of widcomm bluetooth software with the windows program deinstallation in the system tools.
I´ve restarted the PC
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)
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.

Download it.
Extract it to a folder
Only use the file Broadcom_Bluetooth_6.4.0.670.exe out of the zip archive. Drop the rest.
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:
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.

Andy

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97 additional answers

Anonymous

2011-01-11T22:47:08+00:00

"SamCeLc" wrote in message news:2fc29e99-f9e3-4c89-99f3-8d26eeb4982c...

I'd like to mention that my disk drive was erased installing this update (NIC_DRVR_WIN_R254689.EXE) taken from the Dell website with a Dell technician on the phone providing support. Interestingly, the tech was reading this thread but we proceed ahead.

There has been some speculation in this thread that this might be a windows bug or an uninstall bug, however the "My Documents" folder was specifically cleared out. It is highly unlikely that a bug would target specific folders containing user data. Sounds like malware.

...it sounds more to me like incompetence on the part of the techie. :(

They should at least have warned that such an outcome was a possibility, and checked that you had backed up your personal data beforehand!

--

Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth
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Anonymous

2011-01-11T18:07:01+00:00

I'd like to mention that my disk drive was erased installing this update (NIC_DRVR_WIN_R254689.EXE) taken from the Dell website with a Dell technician on the phone providing support. Interestingly, the tech was reading this thread but we proceed ahead.

There has been some speculation in this thread that this might be a windows bug or an uninstall bug, however the "My Documents" folder was specifically cleared out. It is highly unlikely that a bug would target specific folders containing user data. Sounds like malware.
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Anonymous

2010-12-16T03:18:06+00:00

Just thought I would post my final resolution to this whole saga.....

I finally figured out (after much experimentation), that the solution to properly updating the Widcomm drivers is to not let the latest driver auto uninstall the previously installed driver. The solution (in my case anyway) was to remove the Widcomm driver from the Control Panel "Add/Remove Programs" first. Then install the latest driver and any updates thereafter. This finally worked and did not wipe out my entire "C" drive. Apparently, for earlier versions of the driver installation program, there simply appears to be a defect in the Windows Installation routine where an automatic uninstallation of the previous version is required.

My latest drivers were obtained from:

http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/driverslist.aspx?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd&ServiceTag=&SystemID=LAT\_E6510&os=W764&osl=en&catid=&impid=

Under the "Network" section of this Dell web site - I downloaded both the Dell Driver and Application for the "Wireless 375 Bluetooth Module" and saved them to a temp folder on the C drive

Then I removed the "Widcomm Bluetooth Software" via the "Program and Features" area of Windows 7

Then I installed the downloaded - Dell Bluetooth Driver first followed by the Dell Bluetooth Application - which appears to be an update to the Bluetooth Driver.

All worked well after this....

I would still recommend a full image backup as a precaution in all cases - regardless just to be on the safe side.

I should mention another tidbit of information for anyone wanting to update their Bluetooth Drivers because of intermittent functionality..... Many times, intermittent Bluetooth issues may be resolved by insuring that the Bluetooth device does not allow windows to manage it's power features. This is a common feature which can be enabled and disabled for various devices (Network Cards, Bluetooth Devices, USB drives etc.). You may find updating the Bluetooth drivers is not necessary in all cases.

Hope this helps anyone in the same situation...
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Anonymous

2010-12-10T19:49:01+00:00

Just experienced very similar issues the other day with my Dell M4500 laptop / 375 Bluetooth Device. Wish I had seen this post prior to attempting to update my bluetooth drivers. I have been able to recover most of the data using a file recovery program but will still have to start from scratch with the OS and all of my programs. I have opened a case with Dell. We'll see if it goes anywhere.
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