win 8.1 sucks

[BilliumMoto]

So Windows update decided it would be cool to glitch out somehow and replace parts of system32 with empty files, eventually resulting in a laptop with capabilities equivalent to a punch card reader accessible through command line.

After 12 hours of trying to diagnose and fix the issue via smartphone, it became obvious that the only way to fix this would be to reset the computer to factory settings, reinstall Windows, and then enjoy recovering files.

tl;dr win 8 is really good at bricking a laptop