Scanning android phone as an external drive, with KTS running on my desktop PC?

[ENIAC 2]

I have an older Verizon HTC 525 android phone with only 8 gb total memory and and maybe 2 gb of free space. I need to scan it for a virus or some other malware because I keep getting porn notifications on it. My question is if I can scan the phone as an external drive with the KTS 19.0.0.1088e I am running on my desktop PC without causing any further damage to the phone? Thanks for any help you all can provide. Thank you, Farnk

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, Welcome! Why not install KISA Free? https://www.kaspersky.com/android-security-free Your Android Opsys is compliant with KISA requirements, the ph would have real time protection & automated scanning. KISA's lightweight so you've got plenty of room for it. I've just attached two Androids to W10 computer - KTS 19.0.0.1088(e) is not recognising the devices. Device manager is.... Or, if you don't want KISA permanently installed: install KISAF, scan the ph, clean up whatever KISAF finds, uninstall KISAF? Thanks! More doco: https://support.kaspersky.com/mobile/kisandroid/av https://support.kaspersky.com/10220 https://support.kaspersky.com/10199#block1 https://support.kaspersky.com/10199#block2

[ENIAC 2]

Thank you for your response and the KISA links Flood. I decided to attach the phone to my PC after I posted the question and got the same thing you did, it doesn't recognize the phone as an external drive. The phone is my wife's phone and she has only 877mb free space and the KISA requires only 150mb free space so it should be good o go. Going to give it a try because the Verizon McAfee security that's on the phone is worthless. I've been running Kaspersky since 2007 and have never had any issues with both the machines I've run it on. I'll post an update as to any success. Thank you for the info.

[ENIAC 2]

Hey Flood, I opened a live chat with Kaspersky and the lady was very helpful and helped me link the KISA to My Kaspersky KTS account and I was able to activate the premium using my KTS key. I didn't know that KTS wouldn't work with android phones and that you had to run the KISA. She also reminded me to clear all the browser cache and cookies to see if that stops the porn messages. So far she hasn't got any. BTW, the premium didn't find any malware either. I guess I'll put it on my phone next since I still have two unused keys left. Anyway, thank you for pointing me in that direction.

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, All good, glad to hear there's been progress. Couple of things to be alert to:

1. If you're using McAfee software on anything it's critical to completely remove every trace of McAfee before installing Kaspersky software, Kaspersky & McAfee don't play nice together. If help is needed with this, please post back?
2. After ANY software change, i.e., remove a product ➡️ REBOOT, install a product ➡️ REBOOT
3. KTS premium, licence can be used to activate KISA, I know it's "weird", KTS can't be put on the Android even tho the advertising "blurb" says otherwise, however, Google Play, where KISA is distributed from, only has KISA [Kaspersky Mobile Antivirus: AppLock & Web Security].
4. It sounds like you're on the right track, I'm glad your phone is clean, and also your wife has enough space for KISA, (imo) install on both and let us know if there are ongoing problems or new problems.
5. The only browsers Kaspersky supports on Android are Google Chrome & IE.
6. Re "porn notifications", it's "possible", the source may have been a hidden link in an email, Adware, other software with "addons", even an extension that had "addons", if the issue returns, do a full reset of every browser on the phone and remove all software/applications not necessary/wanted for your use of the phone.
7. One (other) thing to keep in mind, KISA cannot be paused or exited (unlike KTS). If, for any reason you need to "stop" KISA it has to be uninstalled & reinstalled, I know: pia, maybe, in our lifetime, Kaspersky will fix this.

Best regards.

[ENIAC 2]

Thanks for the wealth of information Flood, it has helped a lot. I agree with you on the not being able to disable the KISA. The phones have that worthless McAfee. I didn't think to disable or uninstall it. I guess I'm used to Kaspersky notifying me to do that. I was under the same impression that KTS could be installed on android too. It would be nice if they would clarify that on their website. I'm running DuckDuckGo on my phone and am pleased with it. It stops trackers and ended all the annoying popups. Now to decide which I want more, KISA or DuckDuckGo? I will post back with any more improvements. Thank you again for your help. Farnk

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, Thank you for your kind words & you're very welcome!

1. Re: KISA/??Go (imo) have both, KISA = comprehensive protection, DDG = highly stylised privacy search engine - 2 very different products.
2. Re: McAfee - remove every trace of it from any system where Kaspersky software is installed.

Do please keep us updated &/or post back if you run into strife. Best regards!

[ENIAC 2]

Well, if I put it on my phone I guess I will remove the DDG. As far as the McAfee, it seems the only thing I can do is disable it. It doesn't have an uninstall option. There's a mess of preinstalled apps I would love to remove but can't. Thanks Flood, Farnk

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, What (technically) is stopping the removal of McAfee? PM me the list of the "other" apps that cannot be removed & again what is stopping the removal. Unless the apps are original, as shipped, I'm not clear as to what would be causing an issue. My advice, (1) full backup of everything, clean up ph, install software of choice. (2) full backup, factory reset, install chosen software, restore only what is necessary/desired. As with any "solution", test all backups/restores before finally stripping phone or device. Thanks!

[ENIAC 2]

The apps I'm referencing are all preinstalled bloatware. Even the McAfee which is called "Safely - Security & Privacy" was installed by either Verizon or HTC. I can disable it or uninstall updates but haven't found a way to uninstall the app. Others like Amazon and Amazon Kindle we have no use for. To be honest, I have no use for Bezos period. There are others like some Google apps and Slacker radio, Zoe and Panda Pop. No idea what they are for and don't care. I have them all disabled but like the McAfee, can't figure out how to remove them. Don't know if I want to go as far as wiping the phones and starting over. I'm confused about your "full backup of everything, clean up ph, install software of choice". I guess I could take them into Verizon and see if they can remove them. Maybe they'll feel sorry for me and give us new phones since these go back to BC LOL.

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, Re "confused about "full backup of everything, clean up ph, install software of choice". Not sure what's confusing? Are things like Contacts, Calendar, Msgs, personal files synced to cloud storage? If no, set that up so everything you want/need is backed up to a cloud storage of your choice, example GoogleDrive. Then, either take the ph to Verizon: ask them to reset it or do a factory reset. McAfee - needs to be removed, I'll post back. Thanks.

[ENIAC 2]

Hello Flood, I haven't set a backup on these phones yet. It seems like i should be rather easy but to be safe I'll take it to Verizon so they can assist in doing it. Hopefully they will be able to remove the bloatware and especially the McAfee. I'll post back to you. Thank you

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, Google Play Store - (free) Super Backup & Restore application, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.idea.backup.smscontacts&hl=en Is free, easy to setup, easy to use, well rated, has minimal tiny adds that disappear with a click on the x and, most importantly, works seamlessly, silently, backing up to SD card (if installed) & or Cloud storage. Whether you or Verison do the reset, if there's a SD card installed, remove it so it doesn't get "accidently" wiped/formatted:wink: Please keep us updated? Thanks!

[ENIAC 2]

I looked in my settings and in backup and restore the option to automatically backup is enabled but there's no way to see what's being backed up. It's backing up to my Google account. I'm not all that techy so I'm still lost on this. I saved that link you posted and going to send it to my phone and set up backup. Great advice to remove my SD card before hand. I'll let you know how it goes. Farnk

[Flood and Flood's wife]

Hello Farnk, On your android, go to: Google Play Store - type in Super Backup & Restore, 2 apps of that name will display, select the free version. The Super Backup is super and will backup many things, it's super easy to use, super easy to select what you want backed up & the schedule for the backups. All in all super, don't be overwhelmed, I can assure you,. backing up anything with phones or computers is a housekeeping task that should be setup to protect all of us all the time. When it comes to anything "software" related it's important to have / do two primary things - have good protection, and make sure it works, have good housekeeping backup software/schedule/s & make sure they work. Everybody who uses any device needs to be using protection & have a houkeeping schedule setup, once it;'s setup, it needs no intervention, other than, if the company releases an update and that can be automated too. Look at av protection & backup solution as "preventative", with them in place & working, calling in the big guns is a rare event. & thank you for the expression of appreciation, that's most kind of you:slight_smile: You're doing well, please keep us posted?

[ENIAC 2]

Thanks again Flood., I had a 1TB backup drive for my old HP XP Media Center machine but the backup software doesn't work with 8 or 8.1. Planning on buying a new backup drive but gotta wait to get some medical bills paid down. Looking hard at the Passports.

[allanbgy]

I have an older Verizon HTC 525 android phone with only 8 gb total memory and and maybe 2 gb of free space. I need to scan it for a virus or some other malware because I keep getting porn notifications on it. My question is if I can scan the phone as an external drive with the KTS 19.0.0.1088e I am running on my desktop PC without causing any further damage to the phone? Thanks for any help you all can provide.
Thank you, Farnk

 

Here, it may help you. This is from a post I wrote for someone trying to use the desktop anti-virus to scan the cellphone:

“I just faced the same problem connecting the cellphone to Windows, in order to scan with the desktop anti-virus.

After some research on the web, it seems that Android phones aren’t enable to be mapped in the OS as storage volume (like ‘C:’ or ‘F:’) anymore. The protocol used to handle USB communication between the cellphone and the OS changed, so the anti-virus scan can’t run, because it can’t even detect a volume.

Work around: even though the cellphone can’t be mounted like local disk drive, you can deploy a webserver easily installing an App that do this. After that, map the cellphone as a network drive and it will appear in the windows explorer Network hierarchy. So, in Kaspersky you will now be able to find the cellphone in the selective scan listing.

 

I just did a succesfully scan on the mobile device!

Have a good one.”