Dmwakeup.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Dmwakeup.exe executable file is related to a malicious application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional due to high CPU use.
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What is Dmwakeup.exe process?

Dmwakeup.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have specified before, Dmwakeup.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, however, the effects are usually the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to run this process. This malware does not care about the fact that you may need to use your PC for other tasks – it will consistently consume over 80% of your processor power.

Dmwakeup.exe Windows Process

Dmwakeup.exe – Very high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Dmwakeup.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may cause unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong PC is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” 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

  • 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 Dmwakeup.exe miner?

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

    First, Dmwakeup.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, 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 exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.

    Dmwakeup.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Dmwakeup.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions effectively, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent detection. 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 cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak power for long times may cause damage to your device and increase electricity expenses. Hardware 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 well-protected CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Dmwakeup.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Dmwakeup.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 through “major” malware. Adware sometimes acts as a carrier for Dmwakeup.exe malware infiltration: it shows 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. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Dmwakeup.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Thus, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Dmwakeup.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 the use of special software. Effective anti-malware program should have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak systems. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run security in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits all of the mentioned features.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Dmwakeup.exe miner consumes a lot of processor capacity, it is required 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.

    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-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Dmwakeup.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Dmwakeup.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Dmwakeup.exe

    Description: The Dmwakeup.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Dmwakeup.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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