Minerstat.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Minerstat.exe process comes from a malicious program that can properly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable due to high CPU use.
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What is Minerstat.exe process?

Minerstat.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have actually mentioned before, Minerstat.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the impacts are almost always the identical. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your personal computer to run this procedure. This virus doesn’t care about the fact that you may want to use your PC for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your processor power.

Minerstat.exe Windows Process

Minerstat.exe – Really high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Minerstat.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may lead to bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end computer is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit 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

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Minerstat.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, Minerstat.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow performance. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that works online.

    Minerstat.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameMinerstat.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorData00.vji, Unrealcefsubprocess.exe, 2nd.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Minerstat.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a single negative activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Minerstat.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To execute 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 check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for long times can trigger damage to your machine as well as raise power expenses. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Minerstat.exe malware can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your GPU decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Minerstat.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 prevalent malevolent programs through “major” viruses. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Minerstat.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Minerstat.exe is just one of them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Hence, there is a huge lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked application and get a coin for every installation. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK 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 desktop.

    How to remove the Minerstat.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 program. Appropriate security tool should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak computers. Additionally, it is better to have on-run security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. 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 an ideal choice that fits all of the mentioned characteristics.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Minerstat.exe miner takes 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.

    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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, just like the majority of non-critical operating 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.

    Remove Minerstat.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Minerstat.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Minerstat.exe

    Description: The Minerstat.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Minerstat.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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