Today’s “WTF?” is brought to you following an issue I had trying to uninstall HP’s Client Security tool from a brand new HP Probook 450.

First up, there are pre-req uninstalls required, namely:

  • HP Device Access Manager
  • HP File Sanitizer
  • Theft Recovery
  • HP Drive Encryption

Attempting to uninstall Client Security from Programs and Features would fail with an “Error 1325. Hewlett-Packard is not a valid short file name” pop-up.

The solution as found here http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-System-and-Recovery/Uninstall-HP-Client-Security/td-p/3552379 was to disable the DVD drive in Device Manager, then uninstall.

Pro-tip – remember to re-enable the DVD drive once done.

Colour me confused as to why this works