Vmwp.exe executable file comes from a harmful application that can properly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unusable as a result of high CPU use.
What is Vmwp.exe process?
Vmwp.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Vmwp.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will likely struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually used on 100%. It is not as critical as CPU for system work, so Vmwp.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may lead to sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Vmwp.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, Vmwp.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, as all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Vmwp.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Vmwp.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Vmcompute.exe, Uihost.exe, Mbamservice.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Vmwp.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners perform to your personal computer. Vmwp.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent operations effectively, it ruins the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, performing at peak level for long times may cause damage to your machine as well as raise electricity costs. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Vmwp.exe can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad 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 Vmwp.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 website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of well-known programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and acquire a coin for every installation. Before blaming these individuals for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Vmwp.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 applications, just like the majority of non-critical system 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.
Leave a Comment