Exe.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Exe.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional because of high CPU utilization.

What is Exe.exe process?

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

Exe.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Exe.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may result in bad effects.

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 Exe.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, Exe.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.

    Exe.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your system. Exe.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malicious operations correctly, it wrecks the protection 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 lot of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine as well as increase electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Exe.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Exe.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 item on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Exe.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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer 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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