.settingsapp.exe process belongs to a harmful program that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly nonfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is .settingsapp.exe process?
.settingsapp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually mentioned in the introduction, .settingsapp.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, however, the impacts are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to perform this procedure. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you probably want to use your PC for other tasks – it will constantly use over 80% of your CPU power.
.settingsapp.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so .settingsapp.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may result in bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong PC is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Fraudsters who make profit 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 .settingsapp.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, .settingsapp.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish performance. Pages can open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.
.settingsapp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | .settingsapp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Canicscatibu.exe, Googlevssagent.exe, Winsrvhost.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic .settingsapp.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single bad activity coin miners do to your system. .settingsapp.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To execute all malicious operations successfully, it wrecks the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. 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 reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your machine as well as raise electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and well-protected processor cooling system is hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs 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 unusually high load caused by .settingsapp.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.
How did I get .settingsapp.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 prevalent malevolent programs through “serious” malware. Adware often functions as a carrier for .settingsapp.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that around 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and .settingsapp.exe is right one of them.4
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 suspicious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to criticizing these guys for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the .settingsapp.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 specific software. Proper anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have on-run security in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits all of the discussed qualities.5
Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since .settingsapp.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, 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 applications, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove .settingsapp.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 .settingsapp.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: .settingsapp.exe
Description: The .settingsapp.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This .settingsapp.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.
