Lineinst.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Lineinst.exe process comes from a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly nonfunctional as a result of high CPU utilization.
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What is Lineinst.exe process?

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

As I have mentioned in the introduction, Lineinst.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, but the impacts are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your desktop to run this operation. This virus does not care about the fact that you may need to make use of your PC for other activities – it will consistently consume over 80% of your processor power.

Lineinst.exe Windows Process

Lineinst.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Lineinst.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can lead to sad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful computer is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs 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’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

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 Lineinst.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    First, Lineinst.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with exceptionally slow performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.

    Lineinst.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Lineinst.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior 1232.exe, Lsassn.exe, Job.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Lineinst.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your PC. Lineinst.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious operations effectively, 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 load of new notes – they are added by this trojan 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 system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as raise power costs. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Lineinst.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted situation when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Lineinst.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 among “severe” viruses. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Lineinst.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Lineinst.exe is right one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each setup. Before blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Lineinst.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Eliminating such a virus needs the use of special app. Effective antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak computers. Furthermore, it is better to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits all of the specified qualities.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Lineinst.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, 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.

    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 apps, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Lineinst.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 in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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 process

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

    Remove Lineinst.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Lineinst.exe

    Description: The Lineinst.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Lineinst.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. 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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