I recently ran into a problem that many people don’t even realize exists. During normal internet surfing, your computer can become infected with a hidden crypto-miner virus. This isn’t just for fun: malicious software starts using your PC or laptop’s resources to mine cryptocurrency without your knowledge. What’s more, a standard antivirus often doesn’t help—getting rid of this kind of infection can be difficult.

Usually, these are Trojan programs that quietly work their way into the Windows system and start running in the background. There are two main types: cryptojacking, where a malicious script is embedded directly into a website and activated when you visit, and classic mining malware in the form of a file that gets installed on your computer and runs every time you power it on.

Why is this dangerous? If there’s such a Trojan on your system, any of your passwords could be stolen, and your data could be deleted. But that’s not the worst part—the virus can kill your graphics card and CPU. Laptops are especially affected: they can fail within just a few hours of background mining due to overheating and overload. Working on such a PC becomes simply impossible.

How can you tell if you’re infected? Check whether you have these symptoms: the graphics card makes a lot of noise and gets very hot (you can check it with GPU-Z), the computer starts lagging, and the CPU is loaded at 60% or higher. RAM usage increases, the browser runs more slowly, and in Task Manager you see processes with strange names like asikadl.exe.

Now the most important part—how to remove the miner from your computer. First step: run a full scan with your antivirus, then clean the system using CCleaner or a similar tool to remove all the leftover junk. Restart your computer. But this may not work if the virus added itself to the list of trusted programs.

For a more thorough search, open the registry (Win+R, then regedit). Use search (Ctrl+F) to look for suspicious processes. Often they have names made up of random characters. Delete the found entries and restart the system.

Another way to remove the miner is through Task Scheduler. Press Win+R, then enter taskschd.msc. In the scheduler library, look for tasks that are triggered every time the PC is turned on. Check the Triggers and Actions tabs—if anything looks suspicious, disable that task (right-click—Disable). If CPU load returns to normal, delete the task completely.

For more complex cases, use specialized antivirus software like Dr. Web, which performs a deep scan of the system. AnVir Task Manager also helps for more detailed checks of startup.

To avoid dealing with this again, here’s what I recommend: install only verified programs, regularly update your antivirus, check information about a program before downloading it, run antivirus and firewall protection while you’re online, add dangerous sites to the hosts file (there are lists on GitHub), don’t run as administrator unless necessary, set a strong password on Windows and your router, disable router detection and remote access, block JavaScript in your browser if it’s not critical, enable mining protection in Chrome (Privacy and Security), and install AdBlock or uBlock to filter ad scripts.

And most importantly—how to remove the miner if it’s already there is easier than dealing with it later. Prevention is always better than treatment. Periodically restore a clean Windows image every 2-3 months if you suspect an infection. Before removing the virus, it’s better to create a system backup for recovery. It will take some time, but it will save you stress and protect your equipment.