Reasonable, basic security for a NORMAL PC?

Are you talking about the warning that the screen gets dimmed or some OTHER warning that I missed?

As for 2-years-old, I have no idea. System's brand new, all the software I've put on has been the current versions - which doesn't mean something wasn't 2 years old...

I ALSO got hit with PUA:... \CandyOpen... That one came back several times this afternoon. I kept having WD handle it. I finally ran ADWCleaner and Malwarebytes and I haven't seen it since, but this is BIZARRE...

MalwareBytes Browser giard has caught several, Ublock Origin has trapped a dozen.

I haven't put anything on the system in over 2 days except the older version of the AMD 5700XT drivers to see if they'd help with a Bridge problem, and DesktopOK to try and keep the desktop icons in place...

I haven't run an offline scan before, but I just did...

And looked in the log file.

Is there something specific I'm looking for that will be obvious to the uninformed observer? 'Cause there's a lot of gibberish, but I don't see anything that screams PROBLEM!!!!!

In all that huge discussion and massive EULAs and umpteen screen shots, was there something that translates this log into something meaningful? Or if there WAS a problem would it be easy to see?

I am no expert but I have been following this thread. I will chime in with what I think. I re-read the entire thread and it seems to me OP has a lot of things going on with malware, pups, whatever. If this were my computer the first thing I would do is run the free ESET virus scanner. It is very thorough, usually needs to run overnight for a complete scan and it will remove any malware it finds, one time, for free. ESET usually does a great job. For good measure I would scan with free Malwarebytes after that just to be sure nothing else was missed.

Then I would save any documents, pictures, downloads and anything else I wanted to keep on a flash drive or external hard drive. Once I saved what I needed I would use Windows to restore the computer back to original specs. Select the option to "remove everything" and wipe the drive and start new.

Once the reset is done, the only antivirus needed on a modern system is the built-in Windows Security Antivirus aka Windows Defender. The old Windows Microsoft Security Essentials was not very good at all, back in the days of Windows 7 even MS itself recommended people use some other AV, but the current version of WD has been tested time and again and is now every bit as good as the paid third-party antivirus. The modern Windows Security is baked into the system and is also the least likely to cause any conflicts with Windows updates or new software.

On a clean reinstallation of Windows, I would add the free ConfigureDefender tool and set it on High. It is portable and you can't really "see" it doing anything but it does open up extra protection not found in the basic built-in WD. You have to run ConfigureDefender in your admin account for the changes to take effect. I would also add the free Malwarebytes Browser Guard extension to the browser and just use the Malwarebytes app as an occasional peace-of-mind second opinion scanner. The MBAM browser guard will block malware, phishing, trackers and scams and it does a good job. I would also add the Ublock Origin extension on default settings. Defender, the MBAM Browser Guard and Ublock are all I would use. I don't believe in over-armoring my browser and I try to use as few extensions as possible.

The only other thing I would suggest, and OP may be doing it already but for everyday use it is best to use a standard user account. That way when and if you encounter malware online it will not run on its own, and you will be notified that some unknown entity is trying to run on your system. The admin account will ask for your permission first and you can check everything out before running any exe or bad file. You can use the admin account only when needed, like when installing new legit software or apps.

Malware is like a vampire, it cannot just walk into a computer, in most cases it needs some sort of invitation to enter. It gets in either by clicking a bad link in an email, being tricked by a phishing attempt, drive-by downloads, etc. Malware usually needs some type of interaction from the user/victim to get started. Antivirus, Windows Smart Screen or Google Safe Browsing and a few good browser security extensions will help block the bad guys but there is no substitute for common sense and practicing good online hygiene. One other thing I do is use my own bookmarks list to get to sites that have anything to do with financial info, credit cards, paying bills or any other sensitive functions. Even when I get an email from a credit card or utility when my bill is due, I never follow the "click here to pay" link in the email. I always use the known good links from my bookmarks just to be sure I don't get phished into a scam site or tricked into something worse.

I think OP has had a lot of trouble with the malware on their system. I also think the best solution is to scan the system first then wipe the drive, reinstall Windows and start over clean and fresh. I also think staying informed about malware and how it works, knowing what to look out for and using good online safety habits will do a much better job than any antivirus.

Jimmy

I could'a sworn I put this in first thing this morning, but I don't see it, so...

Jimmy, thanks for your thoughts…

As I originally started with, this is a brand new box. On which I did a clean install of Windows 10 Pro on an empty NVMe drive. The software that’s on the system is primarily MS Office 2019 and a bunch of programs related to image processing.
Yes, there are “normal” browsers and Facebook (which has, to this point, never been run), along with utilities needed for normal “stuff” like searching for files, bulk renaming and so on. The Windows default start has been supplemented by Open-Shell because the default is to abysmally unproductive.
That’s about it – there are NO games at the moment, there isn’t anything even particularly interesting.

My original question was “how do I protect this system in the least obtrusive, simplest effective way. I previously had Bitdefender and I don’t even remember all the junk that came with it that I ended up turning of ‘cause it was a big PITA. The domestic associate (DA) was frequently encountering things she couldn't figure out, couldn't make work, and generally disrupted me regularly to figure out what Bitdefender was doing "this time".

The original recommendation was “Windows Defender”, “Configure Defender” and the free versions of Malwarebytes, Malwarebytes Broser Guard, uBlock Origin, ADWCleaner and CCleaner. All the pages, discussions, tangents and so on, evolved from that beginning.

So, having spent several days putting all the necessary software back on here, I’m not inclined to blow the drive away and start again.

The precaution I took was to, where possible, install the current versions of programs, apps and utilities. In some cases, they’re very new – like the latest drivers for the GPU. In other cases they’re older, possibly not updated in months or even years, or because I prefer the way the older version works.

I can’t speak to the source of the malware I’ve encountered – whether it’s come in through one of the browsers I use – Firefox is the default browser, sometimes Chrome (I can’t remember the last time I started MS Edge). Or through installation of a piece of software.

SO FAR, the malware appears to have detected by Windows Defender, and as far as I know, has been removed. While I’ve been using computers for decades for actual work, and PCs since they were first introduced, I haven’t had extensive experience in security on PCs as the amount and type of security needed 10 years ago or even 5 years ago was DRASTICALLY different than what’s needed today to combat the incessant assault that appears to be ongoing.

For the last several years (probably 10), I’ve used various commercial packages, but over time those have devolved into what seems like little more than vehicles for constantly upselling larger, more cumbersome, packages that are overburdened by features that eventually become overwhelming and get turned off or ignored.

This is my effort to simplify and downsize the amount of time, effort and resources that have to be diverted to keeping the creeps, scumbags, thieves, and general a**holes that appear to permeate segments of the Internet at bay. Fortunately, through the recommendations and assistance of the folks in here, it seems to be working despite having encountered a few issues.

Anecdotally, the DAs laptop was updated to be like my desktop - using Windows Defender, Configure Defender and the rest of the list of software I listed earlier. This morning she summoned me because SHE received an alert from the system. HER laptop, which has virtually NONE of the software I use, and which has not been updated with any new software in MONTHS (other than the frequent MS updates), had TWO PUA problems has now been detected. One was the "AskToolbar" (or something similar to that, that I'd also had. The other was something I hadn't seen before and I didn't make note of it.

I showed her how to look at the severity, and how to tell it to Remove, and she did so. I then had her (just out of an abundance of caution) run ADWCleaner and Malwarebytes, neither of which detected anything... So, I don't think it's anything interesting or bizarre I've done with the new system.

Hi GracieAllen
Have a look at this :
Microsoft Defender weakness lets hackers bypass malware detection
What i found out over years
Windows firewall has more than 4000 hidden rules, this firewall set the doors wide open to microsoft servers.
This can not be removed the normal way, i removed it the hard way
Windows Shared also takes a lot of items (+ 8000)
Windows defender takes a lot of processor power and is not that much effective
I removed firewall,shared & defender and replaced .
This is working already a few years without problems and infections.
I can tell You a lot, but i do not know if it is permitted onto this board.
icy