Qaagent.exe process is related to a malevolent application that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost nonfunctional due to high CPU utilization.
What is Qaagent.exe process?
Qaagent.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually specified previously, Qaagent.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, but the impacts are usually the identical. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this process. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably need to make use of your computer for other activities – it will continuously take over 80% of your CPU power.
Qaagent.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Qaagent.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes may cause unhappy effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, 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 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
How dangerous is the Qaagent.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Qaagent.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 wants, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.
Qaagent.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Qaagent.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Qaadminagent.exe, Psadminagent.exe, Gamingservicesnet.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Qaagent.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners perform to your PC. Qaagent.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent operations successfully, it ruins the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, performing at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine as well as increase electricity expenses. Hardware components 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 well-protected processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Qaagent.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Qaagent.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 “serious” viruses. Adware often serves as a carrier for Qaagent.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Qaagent.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious website as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software and new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Qaagent.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Eliminating such a virus requires the use of special app. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak PCs. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run security in your security tool – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect choice that fits all of the discussed qualities.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to boot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Qaagent.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.
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-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Qaagent.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 Qaagent.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Qaagent.exe
Description: The Qaagent.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Qaagent.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.
