Tenon XTools installer may delete OS X directories

Running the Tenon XTools 1.0.2 installer deleted several directories on Wolf Naegeli's Mac, including the Applications folder, /etc directory, root home directory, backups of system configuration files, and more.

Wolf Naegeli adds: "According to Tenon, Apple has a bug in its installer that will delete the entire directory if that directory contains a file or files that need to be deleted as part of the update. They also said that while XTools 1.0 was susceptible to this problem, 1.0.2 is not." Given what happened to Wolf, it appears that the problem was not resolved by the 1.0.2 update.

Wolf also found that reinstalling OS X from the original CD, and then updating to 10.0.1, allowed the system to boot, but still was not problem-free. For example, now every time he opens the Sharing preferences, the System Preferences application crashes. He fears that reinitializing the hard drive may ultimately be required.

While Wolf suggests that this problem only occurs if running Mac OS X10.0.1, a previous report that covers similar territory suggests that this is a more general problem with Apple's Installer application.