Windrivcl.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey

Windrivcl.exe executable file belongs to a harmful program that can properly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware type utilizes your hardware to mine cryptocurrencies, generally – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unfunctional as a result of high CPU use.

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What is Windrivcl.exe process?

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

As I have specified earlier, Windrivcl.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be diverse, but the consequences are usually the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware capacity of your PC to conduct this process. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to make use of your device for other activities – it will always consume over 80% of your processor power.

Windrivcl.exe Windows Process

Windrivcl.exe – Extremely high CPU as well as GPU usage

Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will struggle even to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as important as processor for system work, so Windrivcl.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may result in unhappy effects.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Crypto mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this operation takes a lot of calculations, a very strong computer is required. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of dozens of GPUs to conduct their activity effectively. Such systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who make profit via this coin miner use someones’ PCs instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.

List of the typical coin miner symptoms

  • Extremely bad performance
  • CPU/GPU cooler fan creates a lot of noise
  • High temperature of the device (for laptops)
  • 80-90% consumption of CPU/GPU resources by an unknown process
  • Microsoft Defender is not working
  • How dangerous is the Windrivcl.exe miner?

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

    First off, Windrivcl.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from incredibly sluggish efficiency. Pages will open up for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person who works online.

    Windrivcl.exe Technical Summary.

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

    “Visible” damage is not a solitary bad activity coin miners do to your PC. Windrivcl.exe coin miner also deals damage to your operating system. To execute all malicious functions effectively, it wrecks the protection mechanisms of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to avoid detection. If you open the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new notes – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of computer recovery.

    Hardware effects of coin miner activity

    Besides decreasing your PC’s performance, running at peak level for a long period of time can cause damage to your machine and increase power bills. Hardware components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Small and well-protected processor cooling system is quite hard to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the really high load caused by Windrivcl.exe malware can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure. GPUs are also prone to have increased wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Windrivcl.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 widespread malevolent programs through “severe” malware. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Windrivcl.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any kind – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all viruses spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Windrivcl.exe is just among them.

    Unwanted banners adware

    The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

    Another way you could get this thing on your PC is by downloading it from the untrustworthy website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and also malware distribution, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid paying for the program in such a way? It is much cheaper 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 Windrivcl.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 requires making use of special program. Proper anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage also on weak computers. Additionally, it is better to have proactive security in your protection tool – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb option that fits each of the discussed qualities.2

    Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Windrivcl.exe miner consumes a lot of CPU power, 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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party apps, along with the majority of non-crucial Windows components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the PC without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Windrivcl.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 for Windrivcl.exe

    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 Windrivcl.exe process

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

    Remove Windrivcl.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Windrivcl.exe

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