Xmrig-amd.exe process is related to a harmful application that can accurately be recognized as a coin miner virus. That malware form uses your PC components to mine cryptocurrencies, primarily – Monero or DarkCoin1. It makes your computer roughly nonfunctional due to high CPU utilization.
What is Xmrig-amd.exe process?
Xmrig-amd.exe is a malicious process created by coin miner virus
As I have mentioned earlier, Xmrig-amd.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 focus on cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all possible hardware power of your personal computer to conduct this procedure. This virus doesn’t take note of the fact that you probably want to make use of your PC for other activities – it will continuously consume over 80% of your CPU power.
Xmrig-amd.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 instance, you will likely struggle also to see the mouse cursor moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as processor for system work, so Xmrig-amd.exe coin miner viruses don’t waste time on trifles and use it all. It often can cause unhappy effects.
Shortly about cryptocurrency mining
Cryptocurrency mining term means the activity 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 high-end desktop is needed. Exactly, the video card is better for this purpose, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of GPUs to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” purposes, like gaming or browsing the Web. Fraudsters who gain money via this coin miner use someones’ computers instead, even if they are used for the regular activity.
List of the typical coin miner symptoms
How dangerous is the Xmrig-amd.exe miner?
Coin miners does not deal damage to your files. However, they make a lot of unpleasant things with the whole system
First, Xmrig-amd.exe virus makes your computer overloaded. It is unable to run your applications now, since all processor power is used by a malware. That malware does not care for your needs, 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 exceptionally sluggish performance. Pages can open for years, any sort of logins will likely take about a minute – just a nightmare for a person who works online.
Xmrig-amd.exe Technical Summary.
| File Name | Xmrig-amd.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 Xmrig-amd.exe removal. |
“Visible” damage is not a single negative activity coin miners perform to your computer. Xmrig-amd.exe coin miner likewise deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malevolent functions correctly, it ruins the protection features 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 number of new notes – they are brought in by this trojan miner to connect your computer to a malicious mining network. All these adjustments are about to be thrown back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.
Hardware effects of coin miner activity
Besides making your PC slow, running at peak power for long times can trigger damage to your device as well as raise power costs. Hardware components are designed to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only in case when they are in a good shape.
Compact and covered CPU cooling system is not very easy to broke. Meanwhile, GPUs have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily cracked if affected while spinning, for instance, by the user much before the malware injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the very high load caused by Xmrig-amd.exe virus can easily lead to GPU failure. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when utilized for crypto mining. It is likely a bad case when the performance of your graphic card decreases on 20-30% only after 1-2 weeks of being used in such a way.
How did I get Xmrig-amd.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 “serious” malware. Adware sometimes functions as a carrier for Xmrig-amd.exe malware infiltration: it demonstrates you the banners, which have a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any type – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. But the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread through the malicious banners are coin miners – and Xmrig-amd.exe is right among them.
The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet
One more way you could get this item on your computer is by downloading it from the unreliable site as a part of a program. People that spread hacked versions of popular programs (which do not require the license key) have small chances to earn money. Thus, there is a very big temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and receive a coin for every setup. Before criticizing these individuals for hacking and also malware spreading, ask yourself – is it okay to avoid purchasing the program in such a way? It is much cheaper to pay $20-$30 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus software as well as new parts for your computer.
How to remove the Xmrig-amd.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 tool. Effective antivirus should have high efficiency at scanning and also be lightweight – in order to make no problems with utilization also on weak computers. Furthermore, it is better to have on-run security in your security tool – to stop the virus even before it launches. 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 objective. GridinSoft Anti-Malware is a superb choice that fits all of the mentioned characteristics.2
Before the virus removal, it is important to reboot your system into Safe Mode with Networking. Since Xmrig-amd.exe miner takes a lot of CPU 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.
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-critical system components, are not launched with the system start. That gives you the ability to clean the system without dealing with high processor usage of the coin miner.
Remove Xmrig-amd.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 Xmrig-amd.exe Virus ⛏️ Trojan Coin Miner
Name: Xmrig-amd.exe
Description: The Xmrig-amd.exe is a Trojan Coin Miner that uses the infected computer’s sources to mine electronic money without your authorization. This Xmrig-amd.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.
- Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.
