Winsys.exe executable file belongs to a malevolent program that can accurately be identified as a coin miner virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, basically – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly unusable due to high CPU usage.
What is Winsys.exe process?
Winsys.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned in the introduction, Winsys.exe is a coin miner virus. The names of the .exe file can be diverse, however, the impacts are almost always the same. Since coin miners focus on cryptocurrency mining, they use all possible hardware capacity of your PC to conduct this operation. This virus doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably want to use your device for other activities – it will constantly take over 80% of your CPU power.
Winsys.exe – Really high CPU/GPU usage
Besides CPU consumption, some of the coin miners also make use of GPU power for their operations. 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 processor for system work, so Winsys.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and utilize all of it. It sometimes may result in sad consequences.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining means the action of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of anything based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a strong desktop is required. Exactly, the video card 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 systems are not usable for “normal” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. 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 Winsys.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, Winsys.exe virus makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications now, because all CPU power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your necessities, all it pays attention to is generating profits on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until web browser is open, you will likely suffer from exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages will open for years, any sort of logins will take about a minute – just a horror story for a person that works online.
Winsys.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Winsys.exe |
| Type | Trojan Coin Miner |
| Detection Name | Trojan:Win32/CoinMiner |
| Distribution Method | Software bundling, Intrusive advertisement, redirects to shady sites etc. |
| Similar behavior | Winlogson.exe, Binscheduler.exe, Bintask.exe |
| Removal | Download and install GridinSoft Anti-Malware for automatic Winsys.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a solitary bad thing coin miners perform to your PC. Winsys.exe coin miner also deals damage to your OS. To conduct all malicious operations properly, it wrecks the security features of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to prevent recognition. If you check the HOSTS file, you will likely see a lot of new entries – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be gone back to the original in the process of PC recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your computer slow, performing at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine and raise electricity costs. Hardware components are designed to easily get along with high load, but they can do so only in case when they are in a good shape.
Small and well-protected CPU fan is hard to damage. Meanwhile, GPUs have large and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if touched while working, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Winsys.exe miner can easily lead to graphic card failure3. Graphic cards are also tend to have very fast wearing when utilized for cryptocurrency mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your GPU plunges 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Winsys.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 malicious programs among “severe” viruses. Adware frequently serves as a carrier for Winsys.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” may belong to any type – another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that about 30% of all malware spread with the malicious banners are coin miners – and Winsys.exe is just among them.4
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this thing on your computer is by downloading it from the dubious site as a part of a program. People who spread hacked variants of well-known programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to get paid. Hence, there is a very big lure to add in malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every setup. Prior to criticizing these people for hacking and malware distribution, ask yourself – is it alright to avoid buying the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 one time than to pay a much greater figure for antivirus software as well as new parts for your desktop.
How to remove the Winsys.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 using special app. Proper antivirus should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to create no problems with usage also on weak systems. In addition, it is recommended to have on-run protection in your protection tool – to prevent the virus even before it launches. Microsoft Defender does not have these functions for various factors. That’s why I’d advise you to use a third-party anti-malware program for that reason. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is an ideal option that fits each of the mentioned features.5
Prior to the virus removal, it is important to reboot your operating system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Winsys.exe miner takes a lot of processor power, 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 programs, just like the majority of non-crucial operating system components, are not launched with the system start. That allows you to clean the computer without dealing with high CPU usage of the coin miner.
Remove Winsys.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 Winsys.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Winsys.exe
Description: The Winsys.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Winsys.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.
