Mpu.exe process is related to a harmful application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable due to high CPU utilization.
What is Mpu.exe process?
Mpu.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out in the previous paragraph, Mpu.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the consequences are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your desktop to run this process. This virus does not take note of the fact that you may want to use your system for other tasks – it will continuously use over 80% of your CPU power.
Mpu.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Mpu.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can lead to unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks 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 Mpu.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Mpu.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Mpu.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Mpu.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Cash.exe, Cash.exe, Spepopud.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Mpu.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single bad activity coin miners perform to your computer. Mpu.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To execute all malicious operations properly, it ruins 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 load of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device as well as raise electricity bills. Hardware elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered processor fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Mpu.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your GPU decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Mpu.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 “major” malware. Adware frequently acts as a carrier for Mpu.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Mpu.exe is right one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require 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 app and acquire a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Mpu.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 using special software. Effective anti-malware program must have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak PCs. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these features for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits each of the discussed features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Mpu.exe miner consumes a lot of processor power, 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Mpu.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 Mpu.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Mpu.exe
Description: The Mpu.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Mpu.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.
