Dnscleaner.exe process is related to a malicious application that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unfunctional because of high CPU use.
What is Dnscleaner.exe process?
Dnscleaner.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out earlier, Dnscleaner.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, but the consequences are almost always the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to run this process. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you probably need to make use of your device for other activities – it will always consume over 80% of your processor power.
Dnscleaner.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Dnscleaner.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the operation 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 powerful desktop is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Dnscleaner.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, Dnscleaner.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
Dnscleaner.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Dnscleaner.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Crea.exe, Brave.exe, Cantripli.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Dnscleaner.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary negative thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Dnscleaner.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak power for long times may trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power bills. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Dnscleaner.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Dnscleaner.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 common malevolent programs through “serious” viruses. Adware often acts as a carrier for Dnscleaner.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Dnscleaner.exe is right with them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Dnscleaner.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Getting rid of such a virus requires using special app. Effective security tool must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have proactive security in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the specified characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Dnscleaner.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is required 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 applications, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Dnscleaner.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 Dnscleaner.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Dnscleaner.exe
Description: The Dnscleaner.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Dnscleaner.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.
