EnkiUK55 said:
Henu my pal this is very helpful but I will admit too technical for me what i will do if its okay when I have new one ask for help as I need to stop this happening all the time, it could be the dodgy football sites oh they are bad or the other dodgy sites :lol: :lol: (not on them now
)
I will have a we google of those ideas
Cheers my pal
Using Firefox with adblock such as uBlock origin goes long way. Avoiding shady links is a must these days as a link can easily be used as a method for spreading malicious malware. A good rule of thumb is to always look at the link on the bottom of the page before clicking it open and avoiding weird looking referral type or otherwise strange looking links. I mention Firefox because it's probably the last widely used decent browser (ie, does not spy or excessively spy on you, not sure which) with large amount of useful internet security related add-ons available.
As for Linux, setting it up is not as complicated as you might think. Sure its all new and strange, but looking video and text tutorials and searching specific questions up will clarify things pretty fast. Internet is also full of guides for specific command line related uses making things rather easy for someone who has limited knowledge. Having two computers side by side makes things even nicer - you can use one as you would right now and experiment on the other without risking the main computer. Sounds nerdy, but so what.
It's not even too expensive as setting operating system for basic text editor and video viewing usage does not require much processing capability making this possible even with several year old laptops. Upgrading older laptops with new ssd drive and memory are two major upgrades that will make the computer rather fast to use as long as it's not bloated with services and programs running in the background.
I think you mean adult content sites? As far as I know nothing will pop up unless you have no browser extensions against that end. Fortunately I do not have to worry about that vector since I do not use such things at all. I recommend the same for you.
In any case it's best to keep a habit of backup or two of important files and to keep those up to date to minimize data loss if something unexpected happens. It also smooths the transit from one operating system installation to another. Large usb sticks are dirt cheap these days and smaller ssd drivers as well (you can connect them to your computer with usb or with an external case which can likewise be connected usually via usb or similar).