Init.exe process is related to a malevolent application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Init.exe process?
Init.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out previously, Init.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, but the consequences are generally the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your PC to perform this process. This virus does not care about the fact that you probably want to make use of your desktop for other tasks – it will always use over 80% of your processor power.
Init.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Init.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may lead to unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Init.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Init.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.
Init.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Init.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | M_inst.exe, Spmm.exe, Churkaebanaya.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Init.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single bad activity coin miners do to your PC. Init.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent functions effectively, it wrecks the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your machine and raise electricity bills. PC elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered CPU cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Init.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Init.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 one of the most widespread malicious programs among “serious” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Init.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that around 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Init.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious 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. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Init.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 demands making use of specific program. Proper security tool should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak systems. In addition, it is recommended to have proactive security in your protection solution – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits all of the specified features.5
Before the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Init.exe miner consumes a lot of processor capacity, it is required to halt 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 applications, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Init.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 Init.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Init.exe
Description: The Init.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Init.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.
