Bootstrapper.exe Virus ⛏️ (Coin Miner Trojan) Removal

What is Bootstrapper.exe process?

As I have specified in the introduction, Bootstrapper.exe is a coin miner trojan. The names of the executive file may be diverse, however, the consequences are almost always the same. Because coin miners aim at cryptocurrency mining, they utilize all available hardware power of your personal computer to perform this procedure. This malware doesn’t pay attention to the fact that you probably want to use your system for other tasks – it will continuously take over 80% of your processor power.

Bootstrapper.exe – Really high CPU/GPU usage

Besides CPU usage, some of the coin miners additionally make use of GPU power for their tasks. In that situation, you will struggle also to see the mouse arrow moving – GPU is often used on 100%. It is not as crucial as CPU for system work, so Bootstrapper.exe coin miner viruses do not waste time on trifles and use all of it. It sometimes can result in sad effects.

Crypto mining means the activity of calculating the transaction block hash. That is a basic element of any project based on the blockchain technology. Since this action takes a lot of calculations, a high-end machine is needed. Exactly, the graphic card is better for this task, because they have more cores available. Cryptocurrency mining farms are usually constructed of tens and hundreds of graphic cards to complete their task efficiently. Such systems are not usable for “general” 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 Bootstrapper.exe miner?

First of all, Bootstrapper.exe malware makes your system overloaded. It is not able to run your applications anymore, as all processor power is consumed by a malware. That malware does not care for your wants, all it focuses on is making money on you. Even if you are patient, and you waited until browser is open, you will likely suffer from extremely sluggish performance. Pages can open up for years, any type of logins will take about a minute – just a headache for a person that works online.

Bootstrapper.exe Technical Summary.

“Visible” harm is not a solitary bad thing coin miners do to your personal computer. Bootstrapper.exe coin miner additionally deals damage to your OS. To carry out all malicious functions correctly, it ruins the security components of your system. You will likely see your Microsoft Defender disabled – malware halts it to avoid 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 computer to a malicious cryptomining network. All these changes shall be gone back to the initial state in the process of system recovery.

Hardware effects of coin miner activity

Besides slowing down your PC, performing at peak power for a long period of time can trigger damage to your machine and raise power bills. PC components are created to easily deal with high load, but they are good with it only when they are in a good shape.

Small and well-protected processor fan is not very easy to damage. Meanwhile, graphic cards have big and easy-to-access fans, which can be easily broke if affected while running, for example, by the user much earlier before the virus injection. Malfunctioning cooling system, together with the extremely high load caused by Bootstrapper.exe miner can easily lead to GPU failure³. Graphic cards are also tend to have fast wearing when used for crypto mining. It is likely a bad situation when your GPU’s performance plunges 20-30% just after 1-2 weeks of being exploited in such a way.

How did I get Bootstrapper.exe coin miner virus?

Coin miners are one of the most widespread malevolent programs among “severe” malware. Adware sometimes functions as a carrier for Bootstrapper.exe malware injection: it shows you the banners, which contain a link to malware downloading. Sure, this abstract “malware” can belong to any kind – yet another adware, spyware, rogue or backdoor. However, the statistics show that around 30% of all malware spread through the malevolent banners are coin miners – and Bootstrapper.exe is right among them.⁴

The example of malicious banners you can see in the Internet

One more way you could get this item on your PC is by downloading it from the dubious website as a part of a program. People that spread hacked variants of favored programs (which do not need the license key) have small chances to make money. Hence, there is a huge temptation to add malware to the final package of the hacked app and get a coin for each setup. Before criticizing these people 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 at once than to pay a much bigger sum for antivirus program and new parts for your PC.

How to remove the Bootstrapper.exe miner from my PC?

Eliminating such a virus demands using special software. Effective anti-malware program should have high performance at scanning and be lightweight – in order to make no problems with usage even on weak systems. In addition, it is better to have proactive security in your protection solution – to prevent the virus even before it starts. Microsoft Defender lacks 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 an ideal choice that fits each of the specified qualities.⁵

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

Remove Bootstrapper.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.

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 GridinSoft Threat Encyclopedia.
5. Our review on GridinSoft Anti-Malware.

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