Fix.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Fix.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.

What is Fix.exe process?

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

Fix.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Fix.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to unhappy results.

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 Fix.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, Fix.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.

    Fix.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your computer. Fix.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions successfully, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. 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 computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak power for a long period of time may cause damage to your device as well as increase electricity expenses. PC components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Little and covered processor cooling system is hard to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Fix.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Fix.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 thing on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in this manner? 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 computer.

    How to remove the Fix.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 applications, along with the majority of non-critical system 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.

    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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