Windeg.exe executable file comes from a malicious application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer pretty much unusable because of high CPU usage.
What is Windeg.exe process?
Windeg.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
Windeg.exe – Extremely high CPU and GPU usage
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 cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Windeg.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and utilize it all. It sometimes may cause bad effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Windeg.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Windeg.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is unable to run your applications anymore, because all CPU power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with extremely sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any type of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who does a job online.
Windeg.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Windeg.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | M_inst.exe, Spmm.exe, Churkaebanaya.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Windeg.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single unpleasant activity coin miners perform to your system. Windeg.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To execute all malevolent operations correctly, it wrecks the protection 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 ton of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides decreasing your system’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine and raise electricity bills. PC elements are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected CPU fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for instance, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Windeg.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Video cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad situation when the performance of your graphic card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Windeg.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
One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable web page as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. Therefore, there is a huge temptation to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for each installation. Before criticizing these people for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid buying the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Windeg.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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party software, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system 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.
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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