Virus or Malware On My Tablet

[Jesse Stewart]

My name is Jesse Stewart IV, and I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet. Recently, I accidentally installed a bad app which caused my tablet to display random ads whenever I am using another app or waking the tablet. I decided to factory reset the tablet, but as I tried to sign in to my Google account, a prompt box appearing saying "Google may regularly check installed apps for potentially harmful behavior ads". If I accept it, ads just start popping up. If I decline, the ads still pop up. This is causing problems with my tablet and I cannot function like this.

I need to know how to get rid of these annoying ads. I already tried factory resetting it, but it doesn't work. I tried finding solutions online, but some of them don't work. I tried using antivirus and malware apps to get rid of the problem, for example AVG. But AVG cannot delete the problems it found.

If I cannot getting a working solution or nobody responds, I am going to have to give up. I am an IT person, and I cannot find a solution to this problem.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! The message about Google checking installed apps is legit, I think--it's a reference to the Verify Apps feature: https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/2812853?hl=en. But this feature won't necessarily block adware, since it might not be considered "harmful" per se.

Try another factory reset, but this time, go to Settings>Backup & Reset first, and uncheck Automatically Restore. Then do the reset, and once you're done with the Setup Wizard, go immediately to the Play Store and stop any app from automatically installing. Now see if the problem persists.

 

[Jesse Stewart]

I tried you suggestion, and it didn't work. When I go into Settings > Backup & Reset and do a Factory Reset, it doesn't do anything. The ads are still popping up and now apps are downloading on its own. Even my lock screen changed without me doing anything. And my Internet browser opens up with all these ads saying I won a gift card. This is getting worse and worse by the minute.

When looking at my apps running, there is this "Adult Browser" that I cannot get rid of. I need help with this problem.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ugh. Try using either Samsung Kies or Samsung Smart Switch to reinstall the firmware. They might not work, since the Note 8.0 is a bit old. If they don't work, then you could try reinstalling the stock firmware using Odin: http://forums.androidcentral.com/am...w-flash-stock-rom-via-odin-new-interface.html

 

[Jesse Stewart]

Thanks for the response and suggestion. I downloaded a bunch of antivirus and anti-maleware to try and get rid of these Trojan viruses. Most of them cannot delete them. Then I tried CCleaner and accidentally deleted the Android OS folder which prevented me from booting into the OS now. I am trying this CyanogenMod method and followed the instructions, but it's not doing anything because it displays this error of cannot find MD5 file and reboots back to the Recovery. I tried to search for a solution to this problem, but so far I'm not seeing it.

 

[Jesse Stewart]

Update: I think I got this mod working, but after I try to reboot to the OS, this is on the screen:

It is just there and not doing anything else. Did I do something wrong? Am I missing something? Or is this normal?

Posted via the Android Central App

 

[B. Diddy]

Sorry, I don't have any experience with CyanogenMod. Hopefully someone else can weigh in here!

 

[Jesse Stewart]

Hey, I got my tablet to work again. I found out that when I unplugged the tablet from my PC, the OS started up. Somehow, I installed Android 5.0; the best thing is my tablet is now free of any lingering viruses!

Thank you so much for your help. If anything good came out of this ordeal is that I learned a little more about the Android system.

How do I close this thread?

 

[B. Diddy]

Wow, I have no idea how you did that. Don't thank me--I pretty much did nothing!

No need to close the thread.