I recently encountered a problem that seems to affect many people. It's about hidden miners that secretly settle in your system and start using your computer to mine cryptocurrencies. Here are some observations and ways to remove miners from your PC.

First, about the symptoms. If your graphics card starts making loud noises, the CPU is constantly loaded at 60% or higher, and your laptop heats up like an oven — these are clear signs. The browser slows down, internet traffic spikes, files disappear on their own. Check the load through Task Manager and the GPU-Z program. If you see processes with unfamiliar names like asikadl.exe — it's time to act.

Miners come in two types. The first — scripts embedded in websites. When you visit an infected page, the script activates and begins using your resources. The second type — a full virus file that installs secretly and runs every time you turn on your PC. Sometimes there are particularly malicious variants that steal data from wallets.

How to properly remove a miner from your PC? Start with an antivirus. Run a full system scan. After that, use CCleaner or a similar program to clean junk files. Be sure to restart your computer. But keep in mind: some miners add themselves to the trusted list and hide from antivirus programs. Newer versions even disable themselves when you open Task Manager.

For manual search, open the registry via Win+R and type regedit. Use Ctrl+F to search for suspicious processes. They often look like random strings of characters. When you find something strange, delete the entry and reboot.

Another method — check the Task Scheduler. Press Win+R, type taskschd.msc. Open the scheduler library and look at which processes are set to run automatically at startup. If you see anything suspicious, disable or delete the task. The program AnVir Task Manager can help, as it more thoroughly checks startup items.

For in-depth checking, use Dr. Web — it performs a serious system analysis and can find complex malware. Before removing a virus, it's best to create a system backup in case of problems.

About protection. Regularly update antivirus databases. Don't download programs from dubious sites. Scan all downloaded files before running them. Work with the firewall enabled. Don't perform actions as an administrator unless necessary — miners will gain full access to resources. Set a strong password on Windows and your router. Block JavaScript in your browser if you want to avoid browser-based mining. Chrome, by the way, has built-in protection against mining in its privacy settings.

Another way to remove miners from your PC — add dangerous sites to the hosts file using lists from GitHub. Install extensions like AdBlock or uBlock to filter malicious scripts.

The main thing — don't panic. If you notice signs of infection, act systematically: antivirus, cleaning, manual search, reboot. Sometimes a Windows reinstallation is needed, but usually it can be avoided. How to completely remove a miner from your PC depends on patience and careful checking of all processes.