Opce.exe process comes from a harmful application that can correctly be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much unusable due to high CPU use.
What is Opce.exe process?
Opce.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Opce.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Opce.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can cause unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Opce.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Opce.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating income 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 for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Opce.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Opce.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Vc.exe, Asd.exe, Windeg.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Opce.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your PC. Opce.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malicious functions successfully, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for long times may cause damage to your device as well as increase power costs. PC elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and well-protected CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Opce.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Opce.exe coin miner virus?
Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Opce.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
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, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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