Apiwindriver.exe process is related to a malicious application that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unusable due to high CPU utilization.
What is Apiwindriver.exe process?
Apiwindriver.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually specified earlier, Apiwindriver.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file can be diverse, however, the impacts are usually the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your PC to perform this procedure. This malware does not take note of the fact that you probably need to use your machine for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your processor power.
Apiwindriver.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Apiwindriver.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can result in unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful desktop is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Apiwindriver.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Apiwindriver.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, as all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.
Apiwindriver.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Apiwindriver.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Healthiness.exe, Logrotate.exe, Hdaudio.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Apiwindriver.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your PC. Apiwindriver.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions effectively, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and raise electricity bills. PC components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Apiwindriver.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Apiwindriver.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
Coin miners are the most prevalent malicious programs among “serious” viruses. Adware often serves as a carrier for Apiwindriver.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Apiwindriver.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Apiwindriver.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Removing such a virus demands making use of special tool. Appropriate antivirus should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak systems. Additionally, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits each of the mentioned characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Apiwindriver.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, it is needed to stop it before launching the security program. Otherwise, your scan will last for years, even though the GridinSoft program is pretty lightweight.
Booting the PC into Safe Mode with Networking
Press the Start button, then choose Power, and click on Reboot while holding the Shift key on the keyboard.
Windows will reboot into recovery mode. In that mode, choose Troubleshoot→ Startup Settings→ Safe Mode with Networking. Press the corresponding button on your keyboard to choose that option.
When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Apiwindriver.exe coin miner virus with GridinSoft Anti-Malware
Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware. You can use this anti-malware program for free during its 6-day trial period. In that term, all functions are available, and it takes no payments to remove malware from your system.
After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.
When the scan is finished, press the Clean Now button to remove all detected elements from your system. This procedure takes less than a minute.
Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.
Remove Apiwindriver.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Apiwindriver.exe
Description: The Apiwindriver.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Apiwindriver.exe will create your CPU to go for very warm temperatures for prolonged periods of time, which could reduce the life of the CPU.
Operating System: Windows
Application Category: Trojan
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
