Microsoftup.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can correctly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unusable due to high CPU usage.
What is Microsoftup.exe process?
Microsoftup.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out in the introduction, Microsoftup.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file can be diverse, however, the effects are almost always the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your PC to run this procedure. This malware does not pay attention to the fact that you may want to use your system for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.
Microsoftup.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Microsoftup.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may lead to unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Microsoftup.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, Microsoftup.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 suffer from extremely slow performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Microsoftup.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Microsoftup.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Sonic.exe, Explorgu.exe, Atuctservice.virus/ |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Microsoftup.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your PC. Microsoftup.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions properly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state 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 costs. PC components 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 CPU cooling system is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Microsoftup.exe can easily lead to GPU failure. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Microsoftup.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 the most prevalent malicious programs among “major” malware. Adware sometimes works as a carrier for Microsoftup.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Microsoftup.exe is right one of them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying 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 as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Microsoftup.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 requires making use of special app. Appropriate anti-malware program should have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak computers. Furthermore, it is recommended to have proactive security in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that goal. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits all of the specified features.2
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Microsoftup.exe miner consumes a lot of processor 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.
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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Microsoftup.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.
User Review
( votes)References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
