Main.exe process belongs to a malicious application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Main.exe process?
Main.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have specified before, Main.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the effects are almost always the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to conduct this procedure. This malware doesn’t take note of the fact that you probably need to use your computer for other tasks – it will constantly use over 80% of your CPU power.
Main.exe – Really high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Main.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can result in bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the action 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 strong PC is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining 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 Main.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, Main.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.
Main.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Main.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Rtkugui64.exe, Gamemanagerservice.exe, Guilded.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Main.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your computer. Main.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the security components 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 lot of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, performing at peak level for long times may cause damage to your machine and raise electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Main.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Main.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 common malicious programs among “severe” malware. Adware often serves as a carrier for Main.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Main.exe is right with them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Main.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 involves using specific tool. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak PCs. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run security in your protection solution – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits each of the mentioned features.4
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Main.exe miner consumes a lot of processor 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.
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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-crucial 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 Main.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 Main.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Main.exe
Description: The Main.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Main.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.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
