V4_tool.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
V4_tool.exe process is related to a harmful program that can accurately be defined as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU use.
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What is V4_tool.exe process?

V4_tool.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have pointed out before, V4_tool.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the impacts are generally the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to conduct this process. This malware does not take note of the fact that you may want to make use of your machine for other tasks – it will consistently take over 80% of your processor power.

V4_tool.exe Windows Process

V4_tool.exe – Really high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners additionally utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will probably struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so V4_tool.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes may cause bad results.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining term means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong machine is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the V4_tool.exe miner?

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

    Firstly, V4_tool.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish performance. 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.

    V4_tool.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name V4_tool.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Sas.exe, Programinstaller.exe, Wdfaf.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic V4_tool.exe removal.

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners do to your computer. V4_tool.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your operating system. To complete all malevolent functions properly, it wrecks the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back 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 long times may trigger damage to your machine and increase electricity bills. Hardware elements are designed 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 broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by V4_tool.exe can easily lead to GPU failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely an undesirable case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get V4_tool.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 one of the most common malicious programs through “severe” malware. Adware sometimes acts as a carrier for V4_tool.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics say that around 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and V4_tool.exe is just with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a very big temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for each installation. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid purchasing the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program and new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the V4_tool.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 using specific app. Effective anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak computers. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these elements for different reasons. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the mentioned characteristics.5

    Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since V4_tool.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, it is required to halt 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.

    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 software, 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 processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove V4_tool.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove V4_tool.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: V4_tool.exe

    Description: The V4_tool.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This V4_tool.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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