Cellphone will not turn on; battery unexpectedly dead

Android Cellphone won't turn on and the battery is unexpectedly dead.

Symptoms:

• Cellphone will not boot or turn on
• The phone was warm or hot to the touch all day
• Battery appears dead even though it may have been fully charged the night before
• Hard booting the phone fails

• After charging the phone for a few minutes, it will then turn on
• Once charged, it behaves normally, with no battery issues

Likely problem:

A program or background task is running amok and is in a loop.  The CPU / Processor is running at full-speed, consuming all power.  The phone will feel warm or hot to the touch while this is happening, even if the screen is turned off and the phone is not in use.

Workaround Solution:

Restart the phone (press and hold the power-button and select Restart). 
If the battery is too dead to boot, charge the phone for a few minutes before attempting to power-on. Once powered on, note the battery level.

Restarting the phone kills the errant task.

Root Cause:

Locating the failed application will be difficult unless caught in the act.  Likely, this is not a predictable or re-producible event and your phone may be dead before you realize what happened.


In my case, I suspect the phone's built-in Camera app was the problem.  I had accidentally launched the camera earlier in the day and then turned off the screen and set the phone down without actually closing the program.  The phone was not used for the rest of the day, but I noted it was warmer than usual.  By the end of the afternoon, the phone was completely dead and would not power back on.  After a short charge, it recovered.  By this time, the Camera app was closed.  This problem was not reproducible.

Surfing the web for this problem shows all kinds of suspected applications can cause this problem, indicating it is not an application problem (e.g., not really the camera-app, etc.).  Instead, it is probably an OS task-scheduling issue and it can manifest itself in a variety of apps.

Other comments:


Do not bother using Advanced Task Manager or other such apps because with all reasonably-new Android operating systems, these programs cannot actually kill the task.  However, there is a paid application "Watchdog Task Manager" by Zomut, LLC, which shows which processes are hogging the system and it might be of interest, however, I suspect monitoring with Watchdog will not provide much useful information.

Your comments on this issue are welcome.

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Message: Your G-mail has been hacked

Synopsis:  GMail has been hacked is a scam

An SMS text message from number 18184735086 (1-818-473-5086, or other numbers),

Message #90261: Your G-mail has been hacked. Text back to VERIFY to take a call to reactivate your account. 

Or Your GMail Profile has been compromised.

Or Your Gmail has been compromised by hackers.  We need to call to verify your identity.  Reply with 'READY' when you are ready to take the call.

This is a scam.

Besides the fact that Google would never spell their service as "G-Mail" (it is Gmail), and would an official message from Google have such terrible English?  And would Google use the word "hacked?" - of course not.  With those observations aside, if Google did detect your account was compromised, they would shut it down and make you come to them to re-activate.  Like your bank, they do not send messages about account information.  All of these clues are flags that say ignore this message. 

What should you do:

1.  Nothing.

Do not reply to the text message.
Do not even bother changing your Gmail password.  You were not hacked.
Do not bother reporting the scam - it is fruitless.

This is a 'phishing' expedition, nothing more.

They are looking for information.  The perpetrator is building a database of likely users.  Your number was randomly generated and they hope you have a Gmail account.  Hotmail and Yahoo users can see similar messages.

Still Paranoid?

If you want to make sure your account was safe, log in.

If your account were hacked, the first thing they would do is change the password, locking you out.  Being able to login indicates nothing happened.  When logging in, do not use any links provided in another text message or email -- instead, go directly to "www.gmail.com" - this way you won't arrive at a spoofed-login screen.

Consider checking your account's last activity.  From the main Inbox, look at the bottom footer.  Click "Last Account Activity: Details".   This gives a full report.

Optionally, go to "Account" settings by clicking the upper-right pull-down near your account picture's thumbnail.  Choose "Account Information."  On the displayed screen, note the last login date (this is the login prior to this one) and note the country where it was logged in from.  If this all seems reasonable, once again, do nothing.

Google has more on Last Account Activity with more in-depth reporting:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/45938?hl=en 

Related Article:
Confirm and Protect your Gmail Account with these easy steps


What if you Replied:

From around the web, those who did reply to the text message, report another text saying, "please enter the verification code -44- when we will call you."  There might be a message about your Voice Mail being setup or other such nonsense.

All that happened is you confirmed your phone number is accepting text messages and a gullible person responded.  Your name and number will be sold the the highest spam-bidder.  Expect a lot of Viagra messages.

One person, after replying, reportedly got a call from "Gmail Support" and was charged $99 to unlock the account and install "lifetime protection." Oh my gosh!  No!  She was completely ripped off and adding insult to injury, she gave away her Visa card and the farm. 


Google 2-Step Verification

When I first saw this message, I did a double-take, and then laughed.  I use Google's 2-step verification.  My account could not be hacked -- even if they knew my user-id and password, they can't log in.  

With two-factor authentication, I use my normal User-ID and password and then a few seconds later, Google sends a text message to my cell phone.  In a secondary Google login screen, I type the numeric code from the text message.  Only then can I open my account.  This technique works with both smart and non-smart cell phones.

It works like this: 
    Login with something you know (your credentials)
        + something you have (your phone)

The only way to get past this is to kidnap me and my phone.  Details on Google's 2-step verification can be found here: link:  Two-step verification

Update:  2014.11  -- Google now has an app, "Google Authenticator", which is faster and better than an SMS text message.

What if you don't have your phone?  You can't login.  However, when you first engage this service, Google provides a short list of longer emergency codes that only you know.  Print these and file in a drawer should you ever need them. 

Other GMail Protection Steps:
Keyliner Article:  Protect your Gmail Account.

Other details:

The phone numbers sending the text can come from literally hundreds of different locations.  Here is a sample phone number list from around the web:

2102016341   210-201-6341
2622084748   262-208-4748
3317257397   331-725-7397
3605620248   360-562-0248
4174131642   417-413-1642
5087841859   508-784-1859
6465048392   646-504-8392
7075066468   707-506-6468
7243157540   724-315-7540
8032655725   803-265-5725
8082655725   808-265-5725
8649771320   864-977-1320
9142364339   914-236-4339
9142364339   914-236-4339

The Reply message can be a variety of keywords, including
-SENDNOW-
-READY NOW-
-VERFIFY-
-REPLYNOW-
-SEND CODE-, etc.

All the changes in the message are to work past spam filters and to make the message sound unique.

Related Article:
Confirm and Protect your Gmail Account with these easy steps

Other articles of Interest:
Cleaning Windows Startup Programs (streamlining your boot times)
Using Microsoft's free virus scanner (MSE)
Speeding up slow USB devices

Interesting article on GoogleTwo-Step hacking.  This does not dim my appreciation for what Google has done:  Bypassing Google's Two-factor Authentication

Not that you will need this, because your account was not compromised:
Google Account Compromised:  https://support.google.com/mail/answer/50270?hl=enhttps://support.google.com/mail/answer/50270?hl=en

Gmail Protection Steps

GMail Protection Steps - If you suspect your GMail account was hacked, or if you want to confirm you have a rock-solid Gmail profile, use these steps. 

If your account were compromised (and you can still get into your account settings), look at these areas for common hacking techniques. 

Related Articles:
If you got a text message "Your Gmail has been hacked" or "Your Gmail account has been compromised," do not bother with the steps in this article; instead see: SMS Message: Your GMail has been Hacked.


1.  Confirm recent Login History

From the main Gmail Inbox, look at the bottom footer.
Click "Last Account Activity: Details".
Confirm the login activity seems reasonable.

Click for Larger View; "X" to return

2.  Confirm Connected Applications and Sites

Make sure hackers have not inserted a new program or site into your Gmail environment.

Open Account Settings
(Click pull-down arrow next to your account-picture (upper-right corner on Gmail main screen),
then choose "Account").

Click left-Nav, "Security"
In "Connected Applications and Sites", click "Review Permissions"
(When prompted, type your password to open the screen)

Confirm all connected sites, apps and services seem reasonable.
Revoke Access if you have doubts.


3.  Check Account Access

a.  From Gmail, click the Gear Icon (upper right corner)
b.  Choose "Settings"
c.  Click top-row tabs, "[Accounts]"

d.  Confirm "Grant Access to Your Account" does not list other Gmail accounts.
e.  Confirm "Mark conversations as read when opened by others"


4. Check Forwarding

a. In the "[Forwarding and POP/IMAP]" tab
    Confirm you are not (auto) forwarding messages to another email address.

b.  In [Filters]
    Confirm there are no unexpected Filters (which can also be used to forward emails)


5.  Enable Google 2-Step Verification

Consider enabling Google's Google's 2-step verification.  With this, your account cannot be hacked -- even if the perpetrator knows your username and password. I have done this myself for better than a year and this is highly recommended.

With two-factor authentication, I login with my normal User-ID and password and then a few seconds later, Google sends a text message to my cell phone.  In a secondary Google login screen, I type the numeric code from the text message.  Only then can I open my account.  This technique works with both smart and non-smart cell phones.

It works like this: 
    Login with something you know (your credentials)
        + something you have (your phone)

The only way to get past this is to kidnap me and my phone.

What if you don't have your phone?  You can't login.  However, when you first engage this service, Google provides a short list of longer emergency codes that only you know.  Print these and file in a drawer should you ever need them. 

Setup Steps:
a.  From your Account Profile (click pull-down next to your Account Picture)
b.  Choose "Accounts"
c.  On left-nav, click "Security"
d.  2-step Verification "Edit"

Details on Google's 2-step verification can be found here: link:  Two-step verification



Related Articles:
SMS Message: Your GMail has been Hacked

Google Account Compromised
Google has these instructions if your account were hacked and the password was changed:
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/50270?hl=enhttps://support.google.com/mail/answer/50270?hl=en