Manifest.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Manifest.exe process comes from a malicious program that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unfunctional because of high CPU use.

What is Manifest.exe process?

Manifest.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Manifest.exe Windows Process

Manifest.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Manifest.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can cause unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Manifest.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Manifest.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is consumed by a malware. 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 extremely slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

    Manifest.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” harm is not a single bad thing coin miners perform to your personal computer. Manifest.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions properly, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your machine and increase power costs. PC components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Manifest.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Manifest.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious website as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Manifest.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.

    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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, just like the majority of non-crucial system 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.

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

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