Winsrvhost.exe executable file belongs to a malicious application that can correctly be recognized as a coin miner trojan. That malware type utilizes your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your personal computer pretty much unusable due to high CPU usage.
What is Winsrvhost.exe process?
Winsrvhost.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have actually pointed out in the introduction, Winsrvhost.exe is a coin miner trojan virus. The names of the .exe file can be different, but the effects are generally the same. Considering that coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they use all available hardware capacity of your personal computer to run this procedure. This malware doesn’t care about the fact that you probably need to use your computer for other activities – it will always use over 80% of your CPU power.
Winsrvhost.exe – Very high CPU/GPU use
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that case, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often utilized on 100%. It is not as critical as processor for system work, so Winsrvhost.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It often may lead to sad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Crypto mining is a term that means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a integral part of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a very strong machine 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 computer systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or web browsing. Crooks who gain money 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
How dangerous is the Winsrvhost.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
Initially, Winsrvhost.exe malware makes your computer overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, since all processor power is consumed by a virus. That malware does not care for your demands, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely experience incredibly sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any kind of logins will take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Winsrvhost.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Winsrvhost.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Aggregatorhost.exe, Windows.security, Drive.watchdog |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Winsrvhost.exe removal. |
“Visible” harm is not a single negative thing coin miners do to your PC. Winsrvhost.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To complete all malevolent functions properly, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware stops it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a ton of new entries – they are brought in by this coin miner to connect your computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these adjustments shall be thrown back to the original in the process of computer recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides slowing down your computer, running at peak level for long times can cause damage to your device and increase power costs. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access rotors, which can be easily cracked if touched while running, for instance, by the user much before the coin-miner injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Winsrvhost.exe miner can easily lead to graphic processing unit failure3. Video cards are also prone to have increased wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely an undesirable case when the performance of your GPU decreases on 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Winsrvhost.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 malevolent programs among “major” viruses. Adware frequently functions as a carrier for Winsrvhost.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Yes, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – an additional adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Winsrvhost.exe is right one of them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
Another way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the suspicious site as a part of a program. Users who spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not demand the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a huge temptation to include malware to the final package of the hacked application and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to blaming these people for hacking and 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 greater sum for antivirus program as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Winsrvhost.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 needs making use of specific program. Effective anti-malware program should have high efficiency at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak PCs. Furthermore, it is recommended to have on-run security in your protection tool – to halt the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks these elements for different factors. That’s why I’d recommend you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a perfect option that fits each of the specified characteristics.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your Windows into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Winsrvhost.exe miner consumes a lot of processor capacity, it is required 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.
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 computer is in Safe Mode, all third-party applications, along with the majority of non-critical system components, are not started with the system start. That allows you to clean the PC without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Winsrvhost.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 Winsrvhost.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Winsrvhost.exe
Description: The Winsrvhost.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Winsrvhost.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.
