How to remove a virus from Android: Delete a virus from your Android phone or tablet

If you believe your Android phone or tablet has a virus then the good news is it's really easy to delete. Here's how to remove a virus from Android.

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How to remove a virus from Android: Delete a virus from your Android phone or tablet

If you believe your Android phone or tablet has a virus then the good news is it's really easy to delete. Here's how to remove a virus from Android. Also see: Best Android antivirus 

First of all, it's worth pointing out that it's unlikely that your Android phone or tablet has a virus. What you're more likely to be seeing is an ad that wants to convince you Android is infected and you need to download an app, or a dodgy pop-up, or perhaps your device is just misbehaving. But viruses for Android do exist. If you're sure your device has one, here's how to remove it. 

All Android viruses are delivered via apps installed on your device, so if your phone or tablet doesn't already have a virus, the best way to avoid it getting one is to never install software outside of the Google Play app store. Open your Settings menu, look for the Security option, then ensure the option for Unknown Sources (allow installation of apps from unknown sources) is disabled. Also see: Security Advisor 

If you're determined to install an app from outside Google Play, do your research. Check its permissions (does a video player really need to see your contacts?), look online for reviews and have a good look at the developer's site to see what else it offers. 

You can also install an antivirus app, and plenty of free Android antivirus apps are available that are able to detect and remove malicious apps, for example 360 Mobile Security, Avast and Lookout. These all include an app scanner that will seek out anything dodgy, but note that these apps can also trigger false-positives - reporting an app you've been using for months as malware when you know it's fine. In most cases you can simply ignore these alerts. 

If you believe you already have a virus on your Android phone or tablet - perhaps one that is resisting your attempts to uninstall the associated app or even let you bypass the lock screen - a factory reset will remove it, returning your device to its out-of-the-box state. But doing so also means you'll lose everything on your phone that's not backed up. Instead, follow the below steps to remove a virus from Android.

How to remove a virus from Android 

Step 1. Put your phone or tablet into Safe mode. This prevents any third-party apps running, including any malware. On many devices you can press the power button to access the power off options, then press and hold Power off to bring up an option to restart in Safe mode. If this doesn't work for your device then you should Google 'How to put [your model name] into Safe mode' and follow the instructions. When in Safe mode you'll see 'Safe mode' at the bottom left of the screen.

 

Step 2. Open your Settings menu and choose Apps, then make sure you're viewing the Downloaded tab. If you don't know the name of the virus you think has infected your Android phone or tablet, go through the list and look for anything dodgy-looking or that you know you haven't installed or shouldn't be running on your device.  

Step 3. Tap on the malicious app (clearly it won't be called 'Dodgy Android virus', this is just an illustration) to open the App info page, then click Uninstall. In most cases, this is all you need to do to remove the virus, but occasionally you might find the Uninstall button is greyed out. This is because the virus has given itself Device administrator status. 

Step 4. Exit the Apps menu and tap on Settings, Security, Device Administrators. Here you'll find a list of any apps on your phone or tablet with administrator status. Simply untick the box for the app you want to remove, then tap Deactivate on the next screen. You should now be able to return to the apps menu and remove that app. 

Step 5. With the virus now off your Android phone or tablet, all you need to is restart the device to take it out of Safe mode. Now that it's working correctly it's a good time to back up whatever important data you have stored on the device, and install an Android antivirus app to protect you from any future viruses that come your way. 

How to check if USB, DVD is bootable on Windows PC

If you are planning to clean install Windows 10 on your computer, you may have already created a bootable USB media from ISO for Windows 10. If you feel the need to check if the USB Flash is bootable, on your Windows PC, before actually using it, you can do so as follows. using this method. You can verify and tell if a USB, CD, DVD media is bootable on a Windows PC, using freeware MobaLiveCD.

Check if USB is bootable

To check if the USB is bootable, we can use a freeware called MobaLiveCD. It is a portable tool which you can run as soon as you download it and extract its contents.

Connect the created bootable USB to your computer and then right-click on MobaLiveCD and select Run as Administrator. You will see the following interface.

You will see a Start directly from a bootable USB drive option. This option allows you to choose a bootable USB and start it. Click on the Run the LiveUSB button.

The following window will open. Select the USB drive, where you have connected it and click OK.

Next click on Yes, when asked Do you want to create a hard disk image for your virtual machine.

A black window will open and the process will start using the QEMU engine.

If your Windows 10 USB is bootable, you will see the following image, indicating that the media is bootable. This is the first image we see when the Windows 10 bootable media starts.

Once you are satisfied, you can click on “x” to close this window.

MobaLiveCD download

You can download MobaLiveCD from its home page.

The Windows smartwatch that was never launched

Some images of a Windows Smartwatch were recently spotted on the Tumblr account of Pee-Chi-Hsie, an employee at Microsoft design. Codenamed Microsoft Moonraker, the display of these Smartwatches resembled much to the Windows Phone UI. The images were actually spotted by @evleaks in a cached Tumblr page, which is now taken offline.

Microsoft Moonraker

Microsoft’s Moonraker, as the images show, is a simple Smartwatch which was planned to be released in three different colors. These Smartwatches were customizable and also included some advanced features like MixRadio, remote camera, step counter and built in emails and Facebook support. The interface specifically looks pretty similar to the one used in Microsoft Band.

Sources states that these Smartwatches were developed by Nokia before its acquisition by Microsoft and the concept was also showcased at the Mobile World Congress last year. These Smartwatches were almost close to their launch but were never shelved.

The images clearly show that the Moonraker Smartwatches were more than just a concept. Microsoft probably stopped working over the concept after acquiring Nokia. Probably the software giant wanted to enter the wearable technology world with its Microsoft Band and not the Moonraker Smartwatches. Microsoft announced its entry into the wearable market with its first wearable called as Microsoft Band in the month of October last year.

While Microsoft Band is a fitness band which keeps you healthy by tracking your fitness activity, quality of sleep and heart rate, Moonraker seems to be just a Smartwatch and does what any other Smartwatch would do. While we never got a chance to see the watch in market-shelves, it seems to be an interesting concept developed by Nokia team.