Srv.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Srv.exe process belongs to a malicious program that can accurately be defined 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 usage.

What is Srv.exe process?

Srv.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Srv.exe Windows Process

Srv.exe – Really high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as CPU for system work, so Srv.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may result in unhappy results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Srv.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    Initially, Srv.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since all processor power is used by a virus. 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 web browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely slow efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.

    Srv.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Srv.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Taobao.exe, Nicodemo.exe, Ccservice.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Srv.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary unpleasant thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Srv.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious operations effectively, it ruins the protection features 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 number of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be reverted to the original in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your system’s performance, performing at peak power for a long period of time can cause damage to your device and increase 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 covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while working, for instance, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Srv.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure3. GPUs are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is surely an unwanted case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Srv.exe coin miner virus?

    Coin miners are spread through different ways, but their main sources are malicious banners and programs from dubious sources
    Unwanted banners adware

    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 dubious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these individuals for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Srv.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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your system is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    Security engineer focused on malware behavior, removal workflows, and Windows hardening. Robert reviews threat articles for practical accuracy, checking detection names, symptoms, and cleanup steps before publication.

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