Help with an infected Galaxy Tab 4

cmz7

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Apr 29, 2016
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I have a severely infected Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 in my care. Its current symptoms are:

1) It shows a series of ten or so randomly named *.apk files in its notification list. These APKs appear to be repeatedly downloading/installing, and then forcing the tablet to reboot infinitely. The tablet will run in normal mode for about 30 seconds, then power off and restart without warning.
2) The tablet's home screen is full of fake apps with Japanese/Chinese labels and pornographic icons (Owner's teenaged son was last person using this tablet, lol).
3) I can boot the tablet into "Android System Recovery <3e>, using the Vol+/Home/Power button combo
4) When I attempt to use the Wipe Data/Factory Reset option, I get an error screen containing a "dead" android, lying down with a red exclamation triangle and the text "No Command". In fact, I booted into recovery a second time, and tried all six recovery menu choices, and get the "No Command" error for all of them. I also went into a second, hidden menu of the recovery options by holding in Vol+ and tapping Power, which revealed a second menu with three more choices. These three also yielded a "No Command" error.

I can't keep the tablet running long enough to get into its settings menus, but if it helps, the recovery menu has KOT49H.T230NUUEU0AOD1, which google tells me is android version 4.4.2, April 2015 build date. I am assuming that means it has not been rooted or anything...

Does anybody have any insight on how I can proceed to erase and factory reset this tablet, without the use of its broken recovery options?
 

cmz7

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Apr 29, 2016
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I appreciate your suggestion; it was exactly what I was looking for. The guide you posted was straightforward, and after following it, the tablet was able to reload its firmware. This didn't actually remove the fake apps, but it did repair enough of the OS to stop the reboot loop. This in turn allowed me to force close and uninstall anything suspicious, and to complete a wipe/factory restore. Tablet's OS now appears to be in factory-new condition, with no further issues. Huge thanks for your assistance!