Gpu.exe process is related to a malicious application 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 due to high CPU usage.
What is Gpu.exe process?
Gpu.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually mentioned previously, Gpu.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the consequences are generally the identical. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your PC to conduct this operation. This malware doesn’t take note of the fact that you may want to make use of your desktop for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your processor power.
Gpu.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Gpu.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer 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 Gpu.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, Gpu.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Gpu.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Gpu.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Msdwf.exe, Cftmon.exe, Alternative2.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Gpu.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners do to your computer. Gpu.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC 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 machine as well as increase electricity costs. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact 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 working, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Gpu.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Gpu.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 prevalent malicious programs through “major” viruses. Adware often works as a carrier for Gpu.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Gpu.exe is right one of them.4
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 suspicious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Gpu.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 demands using specific software. Effective anti-malware program must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the discussed qualities.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Gpu.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, 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.
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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with 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 Gpu.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 Gpu.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Gpu.exe
Description: The Gpu.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Gpu.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.
