Mint.exe executable file belongs to a malicious application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Mint.exe process?
Mint.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out in the introduction, Mint.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, however, the impacts are generally the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this operation. This virus does not take note of the fact that you probably want to use your system for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.
Mint.exe – Very high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Mint.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It often can lead to sad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong PC is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Mint.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Mint.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.
Mint.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Mint.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Diskpartguimicro_all.exe, Pnkbstra.exe, Release.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mint.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Mint.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malicious functions properly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for long times can cause damage to your device as well as increase power expenses. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Mint.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Mint.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 widespread malicious programs among “severe” viruses. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Mint.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Mint.exe is just among them.4
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 website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Mint.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 needs the use of special program. Proper anti-malware program should have high capability at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak systems. Furthermore, it is recommended to have on-run security in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal choice that fits all of the mentioned features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Mint.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is needed 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Mint.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 Mint.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Mint.exe
Description: The Mint.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Mint.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.
