Why does minerd.exe*32 process run in my windows 7 machine?

Question

I have noticed now suddenly that a process called minerd.exe*32 runs in my system along with process update.exe*32. These processes eat of a lot of CPU cycles. I googled minerd.exe. I came to know that it is a process used for bitcoins. But I am not using any bitcoins and I have never tried to access any bitcoin site from that machine.
Can anyone give more details as to what that process does? How it works? Is it a malware?

Answer 1

Minerd.exe*32 is a process to mine bitcoins. Basically, the bitcoin network throws a very complex problem at all computers running this, and the first computer (or pool of computers) gets a reward.

Obviously solving a very difficult math problem takes a lot of processing power.

I recommend running malwarebytes and checking for viruses. Formatting your hard drive is the only sure way to be sure it's gone, however.