Can't happen unless you install as root. You're NOT DOING THAT are you?

Also LiveCDs are a thing for about twenty years. Recovery has never been easier, even after hardware failure.

It doesn't even need root to cause damage most of the time, it just needs to overwrite all files under your user by mistake.

> Recovery has never been easier, even after hardware failure.

If you can use a LiveCD to repair it, it most likely wasn't a hardware failure to start.