Win32.exe process belongs to a malevolent application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware type uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system roughly unfunctional because of high CPU usage.
What is Win32.exe process?
Win32.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out before, Win32.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, but the impacts are almost always the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your personal computer to run this procedure. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably want to use your computer for other tasks – it will continuously consume over 80% of your processor power.
Win32.exe – Extremely high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their operations. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as essential as processor for system work, so Win32.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It often may cause bad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful machine is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms are usually constructed of dozens of video cards to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money 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
How dangerous is the Win32.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Firstly, Win32.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a virus. 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 struggle with exceptionally slow efficiency. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who works online.
Win32.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Win32.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Software.exe, Startup.exe, Smadavmain.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Win32.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single unpleasant thing coin miners do to your PC. Win32.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To perform all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new notes – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your system to a malicious mining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your device as well as increase electricity costs. PC components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and well-protected CPU cooling system is quite hard to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for instance, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Win32.exe malware can easily lead to GPU failure3. Graphic cards are also prone to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is surely a bad case when your GPU’s performance decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Win32.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 prevalent malevolent programs among “severe” malware. Adware often acts as a carrier for Win32.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that about 30% of all viruses spread with the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Win32.exe is right with them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy web page as a part of a program. Users that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to make money. For this reason, there is a huge lure to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every installation. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much bigger figure for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Win32.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 needs the use of special program. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage even on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have on-run protection in your security tool – to halt the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for various reasons. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the mentioned qualities.5
Before the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Win32.exe miner takes 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.
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 programs, just like the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Win32.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 Win32.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Win32.exe
Description: The Win32.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Win32.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.
