Cpulimit.exe process belongs to a harmful application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Cpulimit.exe process?
Cpulimit.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out before, Cpulimit.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the effects are usually the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to conduct this operation. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to use your PC for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Cpulimit.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Cpulimit.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can result in sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong PC is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Cpulimit.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Cpulimit.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a virus. 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 browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.
Cpulimit.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Cpulimit.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | 1.exe, Eml.exe, V4_tool.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Cpulimit.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners perform to your system. Cpulimit.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your device and increase power expenses. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered CPU cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Cpulimit.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Cpulimit.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 prevalent malicious programs among “serious” viruses. Adware often acts as a carrier for Cpulimit.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Cpulimit.exe is just with them.4
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 suspicious website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Cpulimit.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus requires making use of specific tool. Proper antivirus should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. Additionally, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions 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 an ideal choice that fits all of the mentioned qualities.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Cpulimit.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Cpulimit.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 Cpulimit.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Cpulimit.exe
Description: The Cpulimit.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Cpulimit.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.
