Sxstrace.exe process comes from a harmful application that can properly be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Sxstrace.exe process?
Sxstrace.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have pointed out previously, Sxstrace.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be different, but the impacts are almost always the identical. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your PC to run this process. This malware does not take note of the fact that you may want to make use of your computer for other activities – it will constantly use over 80% of your processor power.
Sxstrace.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Sxstrace.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often can cause unhappy consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation 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. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such computer systems are not usable for “general” 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 Sxstrace.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, Sxstrace.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your demands, all it pays attention to is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience extremely sluggish efficiency. Pages can open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who does a job online.
Sxstrace.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Sxstrace.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Srbpolaris.exe, Sgrmbroker.exe, Program.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Sxstrace.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single bad activity coin miners perform to your computer. Sxstrace.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malicious functions properly, it ruins 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 load of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak level for long times may trigger damage to your device as well as increase power costs. PC elements are created to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered CPU fan is hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for instance, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Sxstrace.exe virus can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Sxstrace.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 widespread malevolent programs through “severe” viruses. Adware frequently functions as a carrier for Sxstrace.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Sxstrace.exe is right among them.4
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 website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a very big lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Sxstrace.exe miner from my PC?
The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software
Getting rid of such a virus demands the use of specific tool. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization even on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have proactive protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the discussed characteristics.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Sxstrace.exe miner takes a lot of CPU power, 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 PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party programs, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Sxstrace.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 Sxstrace.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Sxstrace.exe
Description: The Sxstrace.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Sxstrace.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.
