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
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
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
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
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.
References
- Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
- About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
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