Explorgu.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey

Explorgu.exe process belongs to a malicious application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unfunctional due to high CPU utilization.

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What is Explorgu.exe process?

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

As I have actually specified in the introduction, Explorgu.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the consequences are usually the identical. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your personal computer to perform this process. This malware does not pay attention to the fact that you may need to use your desktop for other activities – it will constantly consume over 80% of your processor power.

Explorgu.exe Windows Process

Explorgu.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Explorgu.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

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.

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 Explorgu.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, Explorgu.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a virus. 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 suffer from exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.

    Explorgu.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameExplorgu.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorAtuctservice.virus/, Freezehungryutil.exe, Puaminer.win64
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Explorgu.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single bad thing coin miners do to your system. Explorgu.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions correctly, it wrecks the protection components 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 number of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak power for long times can cause damage to your machine and raise electricity costs. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered processor cooling system is hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Explorgu.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Explorgu.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 the most widespread malicious programs through “serious” viruses. Adware sometimes functions as a carrier for Explorgu.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Explorgu.exe is right among them.

    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 dubious website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every setup. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Explorgu.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. Proper security tool should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak PCs. Additionally, it is better to have proactive protection in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits each of the specified characteristics.2

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Explorgu.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU capacity, it is needed 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.

    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, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Explorgu.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 for Explorgu.exe

    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 Explorgu.exe process

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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. 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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