Dism.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Dism.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can properly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.

What is Dism.exe process?

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

Dism.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Dism.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Dism.exe miner?

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

    First, Dism.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is used 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 web browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

    Dism.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary negative activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Dism.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent functions effectively, it ruins the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device as well as increase electricity costs. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and well-protected processor fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Dism.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Dism.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

    An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these people for hacking and 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 sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Dism.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 programs, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor 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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