Lnk_xp.exe process is related to a harmful program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unusable due to high CPU utilization.
What is Lnk_xp.exe process?
Lnk_xp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Lnk_xp.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Lnk_xp.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes may lead to bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Lnk_xp.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Lnk_xp.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because 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 exceptionally slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Lnk_xp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Lnk_xp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Officeclicktorun.exe, Gtavmod.exe, Dog.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Lnk_xp.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary negative activity coin miners perform to your PC. Lnk_xp.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and increase electricity costs. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Lnk_xp.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Lnk_xp.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
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 suspicious website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Lnk_xp.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.
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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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