Updatesyswow.exe Virus (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Updatesyswow.exe process belongs to a harmful application that can correctly be defined as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unfunctional because of high CPU usage.

What is Updatesyswow.exe process?

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

Updatesyswow.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Updatesyswow.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes can lead to sad consequences.

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 Updatesyswow.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, Updatesyswow.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely slow performance. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that does a job online.

    Updatesyswow.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Updatesyswow.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Aggregatorhost.exe, Windows.security, Drive.watchdog
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Updatesyswow.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your computer. Updatesyswow.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent operations effectively, it wrecks 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 trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your PC slow, performing at peak power for long times may trigger damage to your machine as well as raise power bills. PC elements 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 cooling system is hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Updatesyswow.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs are also prone to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an unwanted situation when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.

    How did I get Updatesyswow.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 item on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious web page as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand 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 receive a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus program as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Updatesyswow.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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU 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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