Qexplorerutil.exe executable file is related to a harmful application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware form utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unusable because of high CPU use.
What is Qexplorerutil.exe process?
Qexplorerutil.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have specified earlier, Qexplorerutil.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the executive file may be diverse, but the impacts are almost always the same. Considering that coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your personal computer to run this procedure. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you may need to use your desktop for other activities – it will always use over 80% of your processor power.
Qexplorerutil.exe – Really high CPU as well as GPU usage
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also make use of 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 critical as processor for system work, so Qexplorerutil.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes can result in bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the operation 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 high-end PC is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “usual” 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 Qexplorerutil.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First of all, Qexplorerutil.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Qexplorerutil.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Qexplorerutil.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Documents.exe, Accountpictures.exe, Remote.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Qexplorerutil.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single bad activity coin miners perform to your PC. Qexplorerutil.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malicious functions correctly, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine as well as increase electricity bills. PC elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Qexplorerutil.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable situation when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get Qexplorerutil.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 common malevolent programs among “serious” malware. Adware often functions as a carrier for Qexplorerutil.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Qexplorerutil.exe is right among them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Qexplorerutil.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 demands the use of special software. Appropriate anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak computers. On top of that, it is recommended to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for various reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits all of the mentioned qualities.4
Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Qexplorerutil.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, it is required 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Qexplorerutil.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 Qexplorerutil.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Qexplorerutil.exe
Description: The Qexplorerutil.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Qexplorerutil.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.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
