Etehe.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Etehe.exe executable file belongs to a harmful application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU utilization.

What is Etehe.exe process?

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

Etehe.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Etehe.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can cause unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Etehe.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, Etehe.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Etehe.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners do to your system. Etehe.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To execute all malicious functions effectively, it ruins the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as raise electricity costs. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Etehe.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Etehe.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 favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Etehe.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 applications, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC 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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