VolDriver.exe executable file is related to a harmful application that can accurately be identified as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin 1. It makes your computer almost unfunctional because of high CPU use.
What is VolDriver.exe process?
VolDriver.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As mentioned in the previous paragraph, VolDriver.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be different. However, the effects are almost always the same. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware power of your desktop to perform this procedure. This virus does not pay attention to the fact that you may need to use your device for other tasks – it will always take over 80% of your CPU power.
VolDriver.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some coin miners also use GPU power. In that situation, you will also struggle to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized at 100%. It is not as critical as the CPU for system work, so VolDriver.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes can result in unhappy effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining term means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is an integral element of anything based on blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end desktop is needed. The GPU is better for this purpose because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually use tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money via this coin miner use someone’s hardware instead, even if they are used for regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the VolDriver.exe miner?
Coin miners do not deal damage to your files. However, they do a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First off, VolDriver.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It cannot run your applications anymore because all processor power is consumed by malware. That malware does not care for your necessities. All it focuses on is generating profits for you. Even if you are patient and you wait until the browser is open, you will likely experience exceptionally sluggish efficiency. Pages will open for years, and any login will likely take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who does a job online.
VolDriver.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | VolDriver.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites, etc. |
| Similar behavior | Nominal.exe, Midnauhe.exe, Chromesetup.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic VolDriver.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a solitary unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your system. VolDriver.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malevolent functions properly ruins the protection components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – this trojan miner adds them to connect your computer to a malicious crypto-mining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the initial state in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as increase electricity costs. Hardware elements are created to get along with high load easily, but they can do so only when they are in good shape.
Little and covered processor fan is quite hard to break. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broken if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the high load caused by VolDriver.exe virus can easily lead to graphic card failure3. GPUs also tend to have fast wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card decreases by 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get the VolDriver.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
An additional way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the unreliable website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances of earning money. Therefore, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these people for hacking and spreading malware, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program this way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to produce a much more significant figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your PC.
How to remove the VolDriver.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, choose Power, and click 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 applications, along with most non-critical operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with the high processor usage of the coin miner.
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 crypto mining.
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