Setupsmss.exe executable file comes from a malevolent application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost nonfunctional due to high CPU use.
What is Setupsmss.exe process?
Setupsmss.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Setupsmss.exe – Very high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also use GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Setupsmss.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to unhappy results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Setupsmss.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, Setupsmss.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Setupsmss.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Setupsmss.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Lolbtg.exe, Weather.exe, Prime.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Setupsmss.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your PC. Setupsmss.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malicious operations effectively, it ruins the security components 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 ton of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes are about to be reverted to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine as well as increase power expenses. Hardware components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Little and covered processor fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Setupsmss.exe can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Setupsmss.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 PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the Setupsmss.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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU 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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