On eBay I picked up one of those cheap Chinese 7" Quad-Core AllDayMall A88s tablets for $25, WiFi-only.
When it comes on all is fine unless you try to open the browser. Then things start popping up that are quite unsavory. So I did a factory reset but it seems all that junk is built in.
I sure hope the kid's version doesn't have this firmware. There are some things you simply cannot un-see. Perhaps the pink ones are different.
Going into settings, apps, I was able to identify and stop a lot of it. But as soon as I opened the browser it went nuts showing more.
I got the unit to tell me to sideload a file via the menu that comes up when you hold down-volume and power. Cool. Following somebody's advice I installed the Android SDK to do it. But then found out that all I needed was the ADB Platform Tools with adb.exe. (Don't need the SDK at all it turns out)
So I plugged it into my Win7 machine which installed an Alcatel driver for it. I could see it in device manager.
Typing
adb device -l
gave me a long number then the word sideload (instead of the name of the device)
Pushing on, I found out for positive certain that it needs Alldaymall-A88X-android 4.4.2-bsf.rar and thought I was on a roll.
All I had to do was download the file, unRAR it to get the ROM image, then refresh the ROM with the command it was asking for:
adb sideload Alldaymall-A888x-etc-etc
-- But no, the download link is to a dropbox account that says not found.
It can easily be set to receive a sideload. Driver installed and working. Daemon program installed and working on the PC to handle the work.
Necessary file identified. Seemed like a slam dunk. But no. Not available. Dead End. <sigh>
Lots of smoke but no fire.
Switching gears, I used the Windows version of one-click KingoRoot which said it succeeded. Went to the play store to get Kingo SuperUser and a good file explorer so I can seek and destroy.
During the process of setting up for Play Store it wants to log in, so I let it connect to WiFi. Big mistake. I never even got to the part of credentials with Google. Pop-ups on every screen and unresponsive touch panel. OK, reboot.
I installed a mouse via an adapter into the USB port but it worked the same as the screen. Just fine. Until it didn't.
Rebooted; Shut off WiFi then with the stock file explorer I went into the DCIM directory and under Camera there were a bunch of porn photos and a video, which I successfully deleted.
I am not sure how to find the built-in junkware so I can remove it.
I made some headway but this has taken hours. So now I turn to Android Stack Exchange to get some expert opinions. You can see that I have done my homework before asking for help.
Last thing to do tonight is to uninstall the SDK.
The question is in the title: Now what?