Remove Xmr-stak.exe Trojan Miner A ‘How-To’ (Free Guide)

Xmr-stak.exe is a type of Trojan Virus that installs cryptocurrency applications such as Monero on the victim’s system to use it for their own gain. When this Trojan Virus runs on the system, it will use your system’s resources to mine cryptocurrency and will make your computer run very slow and may damage your system’s hardware.

Slow PC Due to XMR-stak.exe Automatically Mining Cryptocurrencies

Aside from noticing sluggish performance from machines infected with this virus, users have also determined high CPU and memory usage their Task Manager. Even if users disable this background process, it still gets relaunched automatically thus leading to your system getting sluggish once again. Although Xmr-stak.exe does not target the user itself, it still poses a serious threat to the system.

The potential effects that Xmr-stak.exe can do to your system does not only stop in high system usage, it can also affect the security of your system, leaving it open to other viruses. Here is a list of symptoms that there might be an Xmr-stak.exe infection on your computer.

• Extremely high CPU Usage (will also cause high temperature of your hardware);
• The system runs noticeably slower than normal;
• Applications and programs running in the background without your knowledge;
• Generally sluggish performance of your machine

Get Rid of XMR-Stak As Soon As Possible

Due to the severe impact of this Trojan Virus on computers, many experts advise removing the threat at the first sight of its detection. Not only it uses your computer’s resources without your consent — it can also allow other potentially unwanted and dangerous applications to be installed in your system. Removing Xmr-stak.exe may be difficult as changes may have already been made on the system to make sure it’s near to impossible to remove.

Below is a short summary of what Xmr-stak.exe is:

As soon as a user notices that they have been infected by xmr-stak.exe or any other malware and viruses, swift actions should be taken immediately. The most effective way to remove such viruses is to use reliable anti-virus/anti-virus tools such as Reimage or SpyHunter 5.

The most effective way to use any tools to remove viruses or malware is through booting your system in “Safe Mode”. It boots your Windows Operating system in a special mode that only loads minimal and important drivers, Windows services and it also does not load unnecessary applications automatically.

To Remove XMR-Stak.exe From Your System Manually, You Have 2 Options:

METHOD 1: Remove it in “Safe Mode With Networking”.
METHOD 2: Remove it with “System Restore”.

Here are the steps on how you can remove xmr-stak.exe in “Safe Mode with Networking”:

in Windows 7/Vista/XP:

1. Click on the “Start” button on the lower-left corner of your screen, then click on the arrow next to “Shutdown”, click on “Restart” and finally click “OK” to confirm.

2. While your computer is trying to boot back up, start on tapping the “F8” button on your keyboard once every second until the “Advanced Boot Options” comes on your screen.
3. In the “Advanced Boot Options” screen, use the arrow keys to select “Safe Mode with Networking” and then press enter to choose

in Windows 10/Windows 8:

Note: You may also follow the same steps that have been provided above

1. Click on the “Windows” icon on the bottom left had side of your screen. While holding the “Shift” key, click on the “Power” button and click on “Restart”

2. In the Troubleshoot Screen, click on “Advanced Options”

3. After selecting “Advanced Options”, you will be brought to the “Startup Settings” screen. In the list of options, select “Enable Safe Mode with Networking”

Step 2: Removing Xmr-stak.exe with the use of an Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software

Once your system has booted, login to your account and download your preferred Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software. Make sure to update the Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software of your choice in order for it to update its database. Once the Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software is updated, go ahead and let it scan your machine and follow any other steps required to complete the clean-up of your system.
We highly recommend Reimage for this task. It’s a patented and “one of a kind” software specialized to deal with various malware.

Removing Xmr-stak.exe using “System Restore“

What is System Restore?

System restore is a built-in feature in Microsoft Windows Operating System that enables users to revert back to the state when their machines were working properly. This will help users to recover from disastrous system malfunctions.

Step 1: Here are the steps on how to properly access “System Restore”:

in Windows 7/Vista/XP:

1. Click on the “Start” button on the lower-left corner of your screen, then click on the arrow next to “Shutdown”, click on “Restart” and finally click “OK” to confirm.

2. While your computer is trying to boot back up, start on tapping the “F8” button on your keyboard once every second until the “Advanced Boot Options” comes on your screen.

3. In the “Advanced Boot Options” screen, use the arrow keys to select “Safe Mode with Command Prompt” and then press enter to choose

in Windows 10/Windows 8:

Note: You may also follow the same steps that have been provided above

1. Click on the “Windows” icon on the bottom left had side of your screen. While holding the “Shift” key, click on the “Power” button and click on “Restart”

2. In the Troubleshoot Screen, click on “Advanced Options”

3. After selecting “Advanced Options”, you will be brought to the “Startup Settings” screen. In the list of options, select “Enable Safe Mode with Command Prompt”

Step 2: Restoring your Files and other Settings

1. In the “Command Prompt” window, type in “cd restore” and press enter, and in the next line type in “rstrui.exe” and press enter once again

2. You will see the “System Restore” screen on the next window, simply click on “Next” and select your preferred restore point. Its ideal to select a restore point when the Virus has not yet infiltrated your system.

3. Selection of system restore point. If there are more than 1, select the latest stable version you know that was working fine.

4. In the confirmation screen, click “Yes” to confirm.

Once you have successfully restored your system to your selected restore point, run your preferred Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software to make sure that Xmr-stak.exe has been successfully removed from your system.

Lastly, to keep your system safe from future Viruses or Malware attacks such as Xmr-stak.exe, it is strongly recommended to install a reliable Anti-Virus/Anti-Malware software such as Reimage or Malwarebytes.