This was the strategy that worked for us, using what’s currently available, free, and recommended by many. There are other tools out there, but these were our choices.
1 – CCleaner – so your computer and antivirus can work faster. It gets rid of unnecessary and temporary files where some viruses tend to hide.
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner/download/standard
Here is a video explaining how to use CCleaner, but ignore the Registry for now, unless you have experience with it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck5FwzeDOAs
2 – Malwarebytes – but only if needed and as a clean up tool if your computer is badly infected. As an antivirus, it takes too long, but as a clean up tool, it finds the viruses that the other ones might miss. This could take a long time, but it’s very thorough. You could also use this program in Safemode if need be.
https://www.malwarebytes.org/mwb-download/var3/
3 – Bitdefender Antivirus (the free edition) – This antivirus is much better than many others, and it has a free version. You’ll find the link to it just below. But before you can download it, you might have to disable or remove other antivirus programs like Norton or McAfee. This page has a list of removal tools for antivirus programs if needed, although many antivirus programs are easy to uninstall.
And here is Bitdefender, the free edition that won’t clog your computer like some other antiviruses. Let it do its job of freeing your computer of viruses and malware, and making the necessary Windows updates.
https://www.bitdefender.com/solutions/free.html
6 – Ad blocker for the Browser you use – so you can use the internet without being bugged with ads. You can also activate privacy and security features, such as tracking and malware protection.
Currently, one of the most advanced is Adguard. It works on the network level and it could be used on all browsers:
https://adguard.com/en/welcome.html
Backup of your important files
You could always do it on Windows and backup to another drive on your computer or to an external drive, or CD/DVD.
This page explains backup for Windows 7.
https://www.howtogeek.com/howto/1838/using-backup-and-restore-in-windows-7/
Or you could use Google Drive or Dropbox to save and sync your important files, photos, and videos online, and make them easy to share if you want.
https://www.dropbox.com/install
And there you have it. Hope this helps.