Loupetool Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey

Loupetool executable file is related to a harmful application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin[efn_note]Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.[/efn_note]. It makes your personal computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU use.

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What is Loupetool process?

Loupetool is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have specified before, Loupetool is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, but the impacts are almost always the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this procedure. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you may want to use your system for other activities – it will consistently consume over 80% of your CPU power.

Loupetool Windows Process

Loupetool – Very high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Loupetool coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can cause sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.

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 Loupetool 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, Loupetool malware makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.

    Loupetool Technical Summary.

    File NameLoupetool
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorAlrustiqapp.exe, Plariumplayinfo.exe, Pxsetup.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Loupetool removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your system. Loupetool coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malicious functions properly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the original in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, performing at peak power for a long period of time can cause damage to your device and increase electricity bills. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and well-protected CPU cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Loupetool virus can easily lead to graphic card failure. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an undesirable situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Loupetool 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 malevolent programs among “severe” viruses. Adware sometimes serves as a carrier for Loupetool malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Loupetool is just among them.

    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. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every installation. Before blaming these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.

    How to remove the Loupetool 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 needs using specific software. Proper anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak PCs. On top of that, it is better to have on-run security in your security solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for various factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the discussed characteristics.[efn_note]Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.[/efn_note]

    Before the virus removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Loupetool miner consumes a lot of CPU power, it is needed 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 software, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Loupetool 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 for Loupetool

    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 Loupetool process

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

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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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