Rx-switcher.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent application that can properly be defined as a coin miner virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system pretty much nonfunctional as a result of high CPU use.
What is Rx-switcher.exe process?
Rx-switcher.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Rx-switcher.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Rx-switcher.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often can lead to bad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Rx-switcher.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, Rx-switcher.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed 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 browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.
Rx-switcher.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Rx-switcher.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Lineinst.exe, Minerhash.exe, Zecminer64.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Rx-switcher.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners perform to your system. Rx-switcher.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device and raise power bills. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Rx-switcher.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Rx-switcher.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 thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Rx-switcher.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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical operating system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high processor 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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