Chrmstp.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Chrmstp.exe executable file comes from a malevolent program that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly nonfunctional because of high CPU utilization.

What is Chrmstp.exe process?

Chrmstp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Chrmstp.exe Windows Process

Chrmstp.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Chrmstp.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can result in sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Chrmstp.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Initially, Chrmstp.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience extremely slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.

    Chrmstp.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Chrmstp.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Adobearm.exe, Cuh.exe, Graphicscardenginestarter.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Chrmstp.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant activity coin miners do to your system. Chrmstp.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malicious operations properly, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak power for a long period of time may trigger damage to your device as well as increase power expenses. 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.

    Small and covered CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Chrmstp.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Chrmstp.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is much cheaper 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 Chrmstp.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

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