Nvapi.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Nvapi.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can properly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unfunctional as a result of high CPU usage.
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What is Nvapi.exe process?

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

As I have actually specified in the previous paragraph, Nvapi.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the impacts are generally the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your desktop to perform this procedure. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you may need to use your PC for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your CPU power.

Nvapi.exe Windows Process

Nvapi.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Nvapi.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may result in sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining means the action 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 very strong computer is needed. 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 video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” 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

  • 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 Nvapi.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Firstly, Nvapi.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person that does a job online.

    Nvapi.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Nvapi.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Wextract.exe, Udengr.exe, Quickassist.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Nvapi.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners do to your personal computer. Nvapi.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To carry out all malicious operations effectively, it wrecks the protection mechanisms 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 trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the original 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 may cause damage to your machine as well as raise electricity bills. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Compact and covered CPU fan is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Nvapi.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Nvapi.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 through “major” viruses. Adware often works as a carrier for Nvapi.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that about 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Nvapi.exe is right 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 untrustworthy site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every installation. Before criticizing these guys for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Nvapi.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 specific tool. Proper security tool must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have proactive security in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits each of the mentioned characteristics.5

    Before the virus removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Nvapi.exe miner takes a lot of CPU 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, just like the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Nvapi.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 Nvapi.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Nvapi.exe

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