Windowsthreadtool.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Windowsthreadtool.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can correctly be identified as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your system almost nonfunctional because of high CPU utilization.
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What is Windowsthreadtool.exe process?

Windowsthreadtool.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus

As I have actually pointed out before, Windowsthreadtool.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the executive file may be different, however, the effects are generally the same. Since coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your PC to perform this process. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you probably want to use your desktop for other activities – it will consistently consume over 80% of your CPU power.

Windowsthreadtool.exe Windows Process

Windowsthreadtool.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally use GPU power for their tasks. In that instance, you will struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is usually utilized on 100%. It is not as important as CPU for system work, so Windowsthreadtool.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often can result in bad effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining is a term that means the operation of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful desktop is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “classic” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.2

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Microsoft Defender is stopped;
  • CPU and GPU is loaded at 80-90% exactly after the system start
  • Cooling fans are running at high speed and create a lot of noise
  • A single process in Task Manager consumes all CPU and GPU power
  • How dangerous is the Windowsthreadtool.exe miner?

    Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system

    First, Windowsthreadtool.exe virus makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, since all CPU power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, 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 exceptionally 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.

    Windowsthreadtool.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name Windowsthreadtool.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Pc_pcpc.exe, Windows.service, Packs.exe
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Windowsthreadtool.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary bad activity coin miners perform to your PC. Windowsthreadtool.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malicious operations correctly, it wrecks the protection features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a number of new entries – they are added by this trojan miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the original in the process of system recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides making your computer slow, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your device as well as raise power bills. PC elements are designed to easily get along with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Little and covered processor fan is not very easy to crack. Meanwhile, graphic cards have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while working, for example, by the user much before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the unusually high load caused by Windowsthreadtool.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely an unwanted case when the performance of your video card plunges 20-30% only after several weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Windowsthreadtool.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 common malicious programs through “serious” viruses. Adware often functions as a carrier for Windowsthreadtool.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics say that approximately 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Windowsthreadtool.exe is right with them.4

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    An additional way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People who spread hacked versions of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to earn money. Therefore, there is a very big lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your desktop.

    How to remove the Windowsthreadtool.exe miner from my PC?

    The best way to get rid of this coin miner virus is to use anti-malware software

    Eliminating such a virus demands making use of special software. Effective antivirus should have high performance at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak computers. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run security in your protection tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d suggest you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits each of the specified characteristics.5

    Prior to the malware removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Windowsthreadtool.exe miner takes a lot of processor capacity, it is needed to stop 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.

    Boot into Windows Safe Mode

    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.

    windows safe mode boot option with command prompt

    When your PC is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Windowsthreadtool.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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware free trial

    After activating your free trial, start Full scan. It may last up to 10 minutes. You may use the PC as usual.

    Scanning in GridinSoft Anti-Malware

    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.

    GridinSoft Anti-Malware after the scan process

    Now, you are good to go. Reboot your PC into a normal Windows mode and use just as there was nothing malicious.

    Remove Windowsthreadtool.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Windowsthreadtool.exe

    Description: The Windowsthreadtool.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Windowsthreadtool.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

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    References

    1. Read about why Monero and DarkCoin are so popular amongst cybercriminals.
    2. Detailed explanation of how does cryptomining work.
    3. About unwanted effects for GPUs in the process of cryptomining.
    4. Read more about various malware type on Cybersecurity Glossary.
    5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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    About the author

    Robert Bailey

    I'm Robert Bailey, a passionate Security Engineer with a deep fascination for all things related to malware, reverse engineering, and white hat ethical hacking.

    As a white hat hacker, I firmly believe in the power of ethical hacking to bolster security measures. By identifying vulnerabilities and providing solutions, I contribute to the proactive defense of digital infrastructures.

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