My laptop just got wiped clean! I used the laptop to write my book. It’s gone too. I am so grateful that I backed it up to at least two places.
How did the laptop get whacked? I updated my Broadcom (Widcomm) bluetooth software to a newer version. The install program of the new version runs the uninstall program from the previous version to clean out old files. Unfortunately, the uninstall program doesn’t stop with just the bluetooth software. It wipes out everything on your hard drive. All applications, all data, all documents, the registry, etc. are wiped clean by the widcomm uninstall. This is without a doubt the single worst software bug I’ve ever encountered. Apparently, it’s a known issue that Broadcom has not addressed. Here’s a link to a thread I found on social.answers.microsoft.com.
I was able to boot from my system recovery disk and am running the standard Windows system restore process. It’s been running for about an hour so far. If it doesn’t work, I’ll let you know.
Ouch. Thanks for the heads up Victor. Will hang fire on any Broadcom bluetooth updates for a while.
After a sleepless night, I had to perform a complete reinstall. Took me all of about 24 hours to bring it back up to speed.