This article has been created in order to explain what is the HPDriver.exe process, why is it taking 100% of your CPU and how to remove this miner malware from your computer plus stop it from mining the cryptocurrency Monero.
Cryptocurrency miners have become very popular lately and they use the same techniques that made ransomware viruses hit the news big time. One such cryptocurrency miner is the HPDriver.exe malware which according to researchers aim to pretend to be a driver for HP, but has a dark side to it as well. The malware aims to use the GPU and CPU resources of up to 100% in order to mine for the cryptocurrency Monero, which many of you may know, is anonymous. The malware also aims to perform other malicious activities on the computers it infects, so if you see the process HPDriver.exe running on your computer, we recommend that you read the following article and learn how to remove this virus from your PC.
Threat Summary
| Name | HPDriver.exe Malware |
| Type | CryptoCurrency Miner Trojan / Malware |
| Short Description | It aims to mine for the cryptocurrency Monero at the expense of your computer’s resources.. |
| Symptoms | Your PC may begin to stagger and even become non-responsive at times. 100% of your CPU may be used by the process HPDriver.exe running actively in the background. |
| Distribution Method | Via fake setups or malicious e-mail spam messages. |
| Detection Tool |
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User Experience | Join Our Forum to Discuss HPDriver.exe Malware. |
HPDriver.exe Miner – How Does It Infect
The methods of propagation used by the hackers who are behind this miner malware may be more than one, but the primary one is believed to be sending direct e-mails to victims, that may contain malicious e-email attachments. These e-mails may perform various different types of deceptive techniques and pretend to be legitimate ones. In addition to this, the e-mails may also contain malicious web links. Here is one example of a cleverly designed e-mail, which aims to get the victim to download the infection file, believing it is a legitimate document:
In addition to via e-mails, you may also be exposed by this malware by downloading a fake program from a suspicious website. Since this malware aims to imitate a key driver for your computer, you may want to check if you have googled any driver installers for your computer recently, since some malware infection files may be spread as fake installers of drivers. Besides fake setups, other means of replication may also include spreading the virus via a fake game patch, crack, key generator and other form of a seemingly legitimate file.
HPDriver.exe Monero Miner Trojan – How Does It Work
The end goal of the HPDriver.exe infection is to generate Monero tokens at the expense of your computer’s memory. The malware aims to perform various different activities that are malicious in addition to that as well. The first action of the virus is to either download or extract the HPDriver.exe process in the %Temp% folder of Windows and automatically launch the file.
The virus may also perform other tasks that make the process run automatically on your computer, such as:
- Create scheduled tasks.
- Create mutants.
- Touch Windows system files.
- Add registry entries in the Run and RunOnce Windows Sub-keys in order to make it run automatically when you login.
The miner process HPDriver.exe begins it’s miner activity after being launched on your computer. This activity involves primarily connecting to a remote mining pool and linking your IP address to the wallet of the cyber-criminal. A mining pool is a virtual place where miners form all over the world conjoin their efforts to mine for cryptocurrencies, hence increase their mining profitability this way. This procedure results in rewards of tokens from the cryptocurrency mined, sent to their wallets. The process of mining is similar to what the graphic below displays:
However, in the case of HPDriver.exe, you are not aware of that and while your computer begins overheating and struggling to cope with simple tasks such as opening programs and so on, Monero tokens are credited to the wallets of the cyber-criminals and they become richer and richer with the increasing number of computers they infect running for an increasing timespan. So if your PC has this process running, it is imperative that you immediately stop it from Windows Task Manager.
In addition to being a cryptocurrency miner, the HPDriver.exe is malware, after all. This means that it may also perform other activities, which most Trojans like itself have the capability of doing. These activities are often to:
- Steal passwords and logins from your computer.
- Obtain keystrokes as you type them.
- Steal files directly from your computer system.
These reasons and the fact that if the miner malware remains for longer periods of time on your computer may break some of it’s components are more than enough to remove this malware as fast as possible from your PC.
Remove HPDriver.exe Miner from Your PC
In order to make sure that the HPDriver.exe is fully gone from your computer system, we advise you to follow the removal instructions underneath this article. They are created in order to help you delete the malicious files and objects, belonging to the HPDriver.exe miner Trojan either manually or automatically. In addition to this, be advised that if you lack the experience in removing malware, recommendations by security professionals are to remove this miner automatically with the aid of an advanced anti-malware software, which will make sure that the virus files and objects and any related files are fully gone from your computer and it remains protected against all intrusive threats in the future as well.
Ventsislav Krastev
Ventsislav is a cybersecurity expert at SensorsTechForum since 2015. He has been researching, covering, helping victims with the latest malware infections plus testing and reviewing software and the newest tech developments. Having graduated Marketing as well, Ventsislav also has passion for learning new shifts and innovations in cybersecurity that become game changers. After studying Value Chain Management, Network Administration and Computer Administration of System Applications, he found his true calling within the cybersecrurity industry and is a strong believer in the education of every user towards online safety and security.
Follow Me:
- Guide 1: How to Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Windows.
- Guide 2: Get rid of HPDriver.exe Malware from Mac OS X.
- Guide 3: Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Google Chrome.
- Guide 4: Erase HPDriver.exe Malware from Mozilla Firefox.
- Guide 5: Uninstall HPDriver.exe Malware from Microsoft Edge.
- Guide 6: Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Safari.
- Guide 7: Eliminate HPDriver.exe Malware from Internet Explorer.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
How to Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Windows.
Step 1: Boot Your PC In Safe Mode to isolate and remove HPDriver.exe Malware
Step 2: Uninstall HPDriver.exe Malware and related software from Windows
Here is a method in few easy steps that should be able to uninstall most programs. No matter if you are using Windows 10, 8, 7, Vista or XP, those steps will get the job done. Dragging the program or its folder to the recycle bin can be a very bad decision. If you do that, bits and pieces of the program are left behind, and that can lead to unstable work of your PC, errors with the file type associations and other unpleasant activities. The proper way to get a program off your computer is to Uninstall it. To do that:
Follow the instructions above and you will successfully uninstall most programs.
Step 3: Clean any registries, created by HPDriver.exe Malware on your computer.
The usually targeted registries of Windows machines are the following:
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Run
- HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
- HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\RunOnce
You can access them by opening the Windows registry editor and deleting any values, created by HPDriver.exe Malware there. This can happen by following the steps underneath:
Tip: To find a virus-created value, you can right-click on it and click "Modify" to see which file it is set to run. If this is the virus file location, remove the value.
Before starting "Step 4", please boot back into Normal mode, in case you are currently in Safe Mode.
This will enable you to install and use SpyHunter 5 successfully.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Get rid of HPDriver.exe Malware from Mac OS X.
Step 1: Uninstall HPDriver.exe Malware and remove related files and objects
1. Hit the ⇧+⌘+U keys to open Utilities. Another way is to click on “Go” and then click “Utilities”, like the image below shows:
- Go to Finder.
- In the search bar type the name of the app that you want to remove.
- Above the search bar change the two drop down menus to “System Files” and “Are Included” so that you can see all of the files associated with the application you want to remove. Bear in mind that some of the files may not be related to the app so be very careful which files you delete.
- If all of the files are related, hold the ⌘+A buttons to select them and then drive them to “Trash”.
In case you cannot remove HPDriver.exe Malware via Step 1 above:
In case you cannot find the virus files and objects in your Applications or other places we have shown above, you can manually look for them in the Libraries of your Mac. But before doing this, please read the disclaimer below:
You can repeat the same procedure with the following other Library directories:
→ ~/Library/LaunchAgents
/Library/LaunchDaemons
Tip: ~ is there on purpose, because it leads to more LaunchAgents.
Step 2: Scan for and remove HPDriver.exe Malware files from your Mac
When you are facing problems on your Mac as a result of unwanted scripts and programs such as HPDriver.exe Malware, the recommended way of eliminating the threat is by using an anti-malware program. SpyHunter for Mac offers advanced security features along with other modules that will improve your Mac’s security and protect it in the future.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Google Chrome.
Step 1: Start Google Chrome and open the drop menu
Step 2: Move the cursor over "Tools" and then from the extended menu choose "Extensions"
Step 3: From the opened "Extensions" menu locate the unwanted extension and click on its "Remove" button.
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Google Chrome by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Erase HPDriver.exe Malware from Mozilla Firefox.
Step 1: Start Mozilla Firefox. Open the menu window
Step 2: Select the "Add-ons" icon from the menu.
Step 3: Select the unwanted extension and click "Remove"
Step 4: After the extension is removed, restart Mozilla Firefox by closing it from the red "X" button at the top right corner and start it again.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Uninstall HPDriver.exe Malware from Microsoft Edge.
Step 1: Start Edge browser.
Step 2: Open the drop menu by clicking on the icon at the top right corner.
Step 3: From the drop menu select "Extensions".
Step 4: Choose the suspected malicious extension you want to remove and then click on the gear icon.
Step 5: Remove the malicious extension by scrolling down and then clicking on Uninstall.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Remove HPDriver.exe Malware from Safari.
Step 1: Start the Safari app.
Step 2: After hovering your mouse cursor to the top of the screen, click on the Safari text to open its drop down menu.
Step 3: From the menu, click on "Preferences".
Step 4: After that, select the 'Extensions' Tab.
Step 5: Click once on the extension you want to remove.
Step 6: Click 'Uninstall'.
A pop-up window will appear asking for confirmation to uninstall the extension. Select 'Uninstall' again, and the HPDriver.exe Malware will be removed.
Windows Mac OS X Google Chrome Mozilla Firefox Microsoft Edge Safari Internet Explorer
Eliminate HPDriver.exe Malware from Internet Explorer.
Step 1: Start Internet Explorer.
Step 2: Click on the gear icon labeled 'Tools' to open the drop menu and select 'Manage Add-ons'
Step 3: In the 'Manage Add-ons' window.
Step 4: Select the extension you want to remove and then click 'Disable'. A pop-up window will appear to inform you that you are about to disable the selected extension, and some more add-ons might be disabled as well. Leave all the boxes checked, and click 'Disable'.
Step 5: After the unwanted extension has been removed, restart Internet Explorer by closing it from the red 'X' button located at the top right corner and start it again.
