Nvidia.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Nvidia.exe process is related to a malicious 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 system roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
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What is Nvidia.exe process?

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

As I have actually mentioned previously, Nvidia.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, but the consequences are usually the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to run this operation. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you probably want to use your system for other tasks – it will consistently use over 80% of your processor power.

Nvidia.exe Windows Process

Nvidia.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Nvidia.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can lead to sad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful machine is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit 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

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Nvidia.exe miner?

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

    Initially, Nvidia.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 struggle with exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.

    Nvidia.exe Technical Summary.

    File NameNvidia.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorLineinst.exe, Minerhash.exe, Zecminer64.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Nvidia.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single bad thing coin miners do to your system. Nvidia.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To conduct all malevolent 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 open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for long times can cause damage to your machine and increase power costs. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.

    Small and covered CPU fan is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Nvidia.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Nvidia.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 common malevolent programs among “major” viruses. Adware often functions as a carrier for Nvidia.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all viruses spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Nvidia.exe is just among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    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. Users that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Nvidia.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 software. Effective antivirus must have high capability at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization even on weak PCs. On top of that, it is better to have on-run protection in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal choice that fits each of the specified qualities.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to boot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Nvidia.exe miner takes a lot of CPU 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.

    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, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Nvidia.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 Nvidia.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Nvidia.exe

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