How to Find and Remove a Miner on Your PC — Complete Guide

When you are actively working online, the risk of catching hidden cryptocurrency mining programs is constantly present. How to find a miner on your PC and quickly get rid of it is a question that concerns many users. This guide will help you understand and resolve this problem methodically and effectively.

Signs of PC infection with a miner virus

Before searching for what specifically infects your computer, you need to determine whether it is infected at all. Pay attention to the following symptoms:

Performance drops sharply. Your laptop or desktop computer starts running significantly slower than usual. Open Task Manager (Ctrl+Shift+Esc) and check CPU usage. If the indicator stays at 60% or higher even when no programs are running — this is a serious warning sign.

Hardware makes strange noises. The graphics card fan runs at maximum, producing loud noise. When you touch the device case, it feels hot. You can check the actual GPU load with the free utility GPU-Z.

Memory usage increases. The virus actively uses RAM, so the memory fills up even with minimal program activity.

Browser works intermittently. Pages load slower, tabs close without reason, and the connection frequently drops.

Data disappears or changes. Files are deleted without your consent, system settings reset, and information vanishes from folders.

Internet traffic increases. The miner runs constantly, sending data to servers and downloading instructions. Additionally, some Trojans are part of a botnet — a hacker network used for DDoS attacks.

Unknown processes are visible in Task Manager such as asikadl.exe or other names with random characters.

Where the miner is hidden — main locations

A miner virus can be located in various places. Some variants embed directly into websites and run in the browser (cryptojacking), while others install as full-fledged programs on the system.

Browser-based variant. This is an embedded script on an infected site that activates when you visit it. Antivirus cannot remove it because it does not load onto the hard drive. The miner loads the CPU during page viewing. Protecting Chrome with built-in anti-mining features in privacy settings can help.

Classic program. This type is downloaded and installed on your computer against your will. It runs at each system startup. Such programs are harder to detect because some newer versions can hide from Task Manager and may add themselves to trusted software lists to evade antivirus detection.

Step-by-step removal of the miner virus

Step 1: Quick antivirus scan. Run your antivirus program (update its databases first) and perform a full system scan. After completion, delete any threats found.

Step 2: System cleanup. Install and run CCleaner or similar utility. It will remove remnants of malware and junk files that may interfere with normal operation.

Step 3: Reboot. Restart your computer. This will complete the removal process and activate all system changes.

If antivirus did not help — proceed to manual search.

Open the system registry:

1. Press Win+R
2. Type regedit and press Enter
3. Use Ctrl+F to search

Enter the name of the suspicious process from Task Manager into the search box. Delete the found entries. Commonly, processes with absurd names made of random characters are found.

Check the Task Scheduler.

Malware often embeds itself into startup:

1. Press Win+R
2. Type taskschd.msc
3. Open the “Task Scheduler Library” folder

Carefully review each task. Clicking on it, check the “Triggers” and “Conditions” tabs:

• Triggers show when the task runs (usually on PC startup)
• Conditions specify the purpose of the task

Disable suspicious tasks by right-click → “Disable.” This stops their operation. After disabling, check CPU load — if it normalizes, delete these tasks (right-click → “Delete”).

Deep scanning. If previous methods failed, use specialized tools. Dr.Web performs thorough scans of Windows systems and can remove well-hidden threats. AnVir Task Manager additionally checks startup entries with detailed process info.

Before deleting, it’s recommended to create a system restore point in case you need to revert changes.

Protecting your PC from future infections

After removing the miner virus, reliable protection is necessary to prevent recurrence.

System-level prevention:

• Reinstall a clean Windows image every 2-3 months if infection signs appeared
• Enable OS updates and automatic antivirus database updates
• Restrict program execution from administrator accounts unless necessary
• Use secpol.msc to create policies limiting software usage

Network and browser security:

• Set a strong password on your router, disable its visibility and remote access
• Block JavaScript in browser privacy settings (note that some site features may break)
• Enable built-in Chrome protection against mining
• Install ad-blockers and script blockers (AdBlock, uBlock)
• Add malicious sites to the hosts file using trusted lists from GitHub

Access management:

• Set a password for Windows login
• Limit other users’ rights to install software
• Use port restrictions via your antivirus and firewall settings
• Keep your antivirus and firewall active at all times

Before downloading:

• Check program info before downloading
• Scan all downloaded files with antivirus
• Visit only sites with SSL certificates (https icon)
• Avoid dubious resources without protection and verification

Remember, regular checks and timely detection help find miners on your PC before they cause serious damage to hardware and personal data.