Winrar.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

Written by Robert Bailey
Winrar.exe executable file is related to a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer roughly unfunctional because of high CPU use.

WinRar is a well-known file archiving utility that is available as trialware. That program is 100% legitimate, and there is no cases where it was used for malware spreading. However, its name can be used to confuse the user – winRaR.exe looks like a process that belongs to the archiver. However, it doesn’t, especially with the used capital letter sequence.

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What is Winrar.exe process?

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

As I have specified before, winRaR.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file may be diverse, however, the impacts are almost always the identical. Because coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware power of your PC to run this process. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you probably need to make use of your system for other activities – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.

Winrar.exe Windows Process

Winrar.exe – Really high CPU and GPU usage

Besides CPU utilization, some of the coin miners also utilize GPU power for their operations. In that instance, you will probably struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so winRaR.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It sometimes may lead to sad consequences.

Shortly about cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very powerful desktop is required. Exactly, the GPU is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptomining farms usually consist of tens and hundreds of video cards to complete their task efficiently. Such computer systems are not usable for “usual” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters 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

  • Your device overheats (system unit/laptop body is very hot)
  • You are not able to open your apps or they are opening for ages
  • Unknown process is running in the background and consumes your PC resources
  • Windows Defender does not respond
  • How dangerous is the Winrar.exe miner?

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

    First, Winrar.exe malware makes your PC overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is used by a virus. That malware does not care for your wants, all it pays attention to is generating income on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely struggle with incredibly sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person who does a job online.

    Winrar.exe Technical Summary.

    File Name winRaR.exe
    Type Trojan Coin Miner
    Detection Name Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner
    Distribution Method Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc.
    Similar behavior Micros.exe, Hbbbiuz.exe, Rev.desc
    Removal Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Winrar.exe removal.

    “Visible” harm is not a solitary negative activity coin miners do to your computer. Winrar.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To perform all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the security 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 ton of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your PC to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes are about to be gone back to the initial state 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 may cause damage to your device as well as increase power expenses. Hardware components are created to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.

    Tiny and covered processor cooling system is quite hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for example, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Winrar.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is surely an undesirable case when the performance of your video card decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

    How did I get Winrar.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 the most common malevolent programs through “severe” viruses. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Winrar.exe malware injection: it demonstrates you the banners, which include a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that approximately 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and winRaR.exe is just one of them.4

    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 site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to get paid. For this reason, there is a huge lure to include malware to the final package of the hacked app and acquire a coin for each setup. Prior to blaming these guys for hacking and malware spreading, ask yourself – is it OK to avoid paying for the program in this manner? It is more affordable to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software and new parts for your computer.

    How to remove the Winrar.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 involves making use of special app. Proper antivirus must have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak systems. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run security in your security solution – to stop the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these functions for different reasons. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that purpose. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a great option that fits all of the discussed qualities.5

    Before the virus removal, it is important to boot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Winrar.exe miner consumes a lot of processor 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 system is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, just like the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.

    Remove Winrar.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 Winrar.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner

    Name: Winrar.exe

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