Captures.exe process is related to a harmful application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Captures.exe process?
Captures.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out in the previous paragraph, Captures.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, but the consequences are generally the same. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your PC to run this operation. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you may want to make use of your PC for other activities – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Captures.exe – Really high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as vital as processor for system work, so Captures.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may result in sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money 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 Captures.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Captures.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.
Captures.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Captures.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Flbmusic.exe, Itibiti.exe, Retrogui.virus/ |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Captures.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Captures.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent functions correctly, 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 added 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 decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine and increase electricity costs. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Captures.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Captures.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 one of the most widespread malevolent programs among “major” viruses. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Captures.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Captures.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Captures.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 involves making use of specific software. Effective security tool should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak PCs. Furthermore, it is better to have proactive security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits each of the mentioned features.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Captures.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed to halt 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Captures.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 Captures.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Captures.exe
Description: The Captures.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Captures.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.
