Windowsservice.exe process comes from a malevolent program that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware form uses your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer almost unfunctional due to high CPU usage.
What is Windowsservice.exe process?
Windowsservice.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out before, Windowsservice.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be different, however, the consequences are usually the identical. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your personal computer to run this process. This malware does not take note of the fact that you probably need to use your device for other tasks – it will constantly consume over 80% of your processor power.
Windowsservice.exe – Very high CPU and GPU use
Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as vital as CPU for system work, so Windowsservice.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use it all. It often may lead to sad results.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong desktop is required. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ hardware instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Windowsservice.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Windowsservice.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, because all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly slow performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a headache for a person that does a job online.
Windowsservice.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Windowsservice.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Lklklk.exe, Cheat.exe, Remove.siww1049 |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Windowsservice.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your PC. Windowsservice.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To complete all malicious functions effectively, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a load of new entries – they are added by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be thrown back to the original in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for a long period of time may cause damage to your machine and increase power expenses. Hardware elements are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Tiny and covered processor fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if affected while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Windowsservice.exe can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have increased wearing when used for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an unwanted situation 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 Windowsservice.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 one of the most prevalent malicious programs through “major” malware. Adware often works as a carrier for Windowsservice.exe malware infiltration: it shows you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all viruses spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Windowsservice.exe is just one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the untrustworthy site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, 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 individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus program and new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Windowsservice.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 requires making use of special program. Appropriate anti-malware program must have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak systems. On top of that, it is better to have on-run protection in your protection solution – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these features for various factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great choice that fits each of the specified characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Windowsservice.exe miner takes a lot of CPU capacity, 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical Windows components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Windowsservice.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 Windowsservice.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Windowsservice.exe
Description: The Windowsservice.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Windowsservice.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.
