Phoneexperiencehost.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Phoneexperiencehost.exe executable file is related to a harmful application that can accurately be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
GridinSoft Anti-Malware Review
It is better to prevent, than repair and repent!
When we talk about the intrusion of unfamiliar programs into your computer’s work, the proverb “Forewarned is forearmed” describes the situation as accurately as possible. Gridinsoft Anti-Malware is exactly the tool that is always useful to have in your armory: fast, efficient, up-to-date. It is appropriate to use it as an emergency help at the slightest suspicion of infection.
Gridinsoft Anti-Malware 6-day trial available.
EULA | Privacy Policy | 10% Off Coupon
Subscribe to our Telegram channel to be the first to know about news and our exclusive materials on information security.

What is Phoneexperiencehost.exe process?

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

As I have actually specified previously, Phoneexperiencehost.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file can be different, but the effects are generally the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to conduct this process. This malware does not care about the fact that you may want to make use of your device for other activities – it will continuously use over 80% of your processor power.

Phoneexperiencehost.exe Windows Process

Phoneexperiencehost.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Phoneexperiencehost.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to unhappy consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong desktop is needed. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, 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 “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Phoneexperiencehost.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, Phoneexperiencehost.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.

    Phoneexperiencehost.exe Technical Summary.

    File NamePhoneexperiencehost.exe
    TypeTrojan Coin Miner
    Detection NameTrojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution MethodSoftware bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behaviorDutcdecoderhost.exe, Dataexchangehost.exe, Igfxext.exe
    RemovalDownload and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Phoneexperiencehost.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your computer. Phoneexperiencehost.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions effectively, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine and raise electricity bills. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

    Little and well-protected CPU cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Phoneexperiencehost.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Phoneexperiencehost.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 prevalent malevolent programs among “severe” viruses. Adware frequently functions as a carrier for Phoneexperiencehost.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet 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 Phoneexperiencehost.exe is right among them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every setup. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Phoneexperiencehost.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 requires making use of special program. Effective anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with utilization also on weak computers. Additionally, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your security solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these features 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 a great option that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Phoneexperiencehost.exe miner takes a lot of processor 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-critical operating 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 Phoneexperiencehost.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 Phoneexperiencehost.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Phoneexperiencehost.exe

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

    Sending
    User Review
    3.8 (5 votes)
    Comments Rating 0 (0 reviews)

    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.

    Spanish Turkish

    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.

    Leave a Reply

    Sending