Microsoftedgeupdate.exe executable file is related to a malicious program that can correctly be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Microsoftedgeupdate.exe process?
Microsoftedgeupdate.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned in the previous paragraph, Microsoftedgeupdate.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the effects are almost always the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your PC to run this procedure. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you may need to use your system for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Microsoftedgeupdate.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can lead to sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining means the activity 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 high-end PC is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Microsoftedgeupdate.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Microsoftedgeupdate.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is consumed 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 struggle with extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Microsoftedgeupdate.exe Technical Summary.
File Name | Microsoftedgeupdate.exe |
Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
Similar behavior | Nvscpapisvr.exe, Rtkaudioservice64.exe, Totalcmd64.exe |
Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Microsoftedgeupdate.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad thing coin miners perform to your system. Microsoftedgeupdate.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions successfully, it wrecks the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be reverted to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, performing at peak level for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine and increase power 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.
Tiny and well-protected processor cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Microsoftedgeupdate.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Microsoftedgeupdate.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 malicious programs among “serious” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Microsoftedgeupdate.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Microsoftedgeupdate.exe is right among them.4
An additional way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper 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 Microsoftedgeupdate.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Getting rid of such a virus demands using specific tool. Proper antivirus should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak computers. Furthermore, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the specified features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Microsoftedgeupdate.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, 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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Microsoftedgeupdate.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 Microsoftedgeupdate.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Microsoftedgeupdate.exe
Description: The Microsoftedgeupdate.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Microsoftedgeupdate.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.
- Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.