Metado.exe executable file is related to a malicious application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer almost unfunctional because of high CPU use.
What is Metado.exe process?
Metado.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually mentioned in the introduction, Metado.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file can be different, however, the impacts are usually the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your desktop to perform this procedure. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably need to make use of your system for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Metado.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Metado.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can result in bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong desktop is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters 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 Metado.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, Metado.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Metado.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Metado.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Ftdiunin.exe, Winginx.exe, Xuservice.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Metado.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your system. Metado.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions effectively, it ruins the security mechanisms 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 ton of new notes – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your computer’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time may trigger damage to your machine as well as increase power costs. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Metado.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Metado.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 widespread malevolent programs through “severe” malware. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Metado.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that around 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Metado.exe is just one of them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, 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 greater figure for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Metado.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 requires the use of specific tool. Proper antivirus must have high performance 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 protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal choice that fits each of the mentioned features.4
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Metado.exe miner consumes a lot of processor capacity, it is required to stop 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 Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Metado.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 Metado.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Metado.exe
Description: The Metado.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Metado.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.
