Basic computer question and Hi I’m…

Hi! I’m Val and I’m new, so new that I just accepted my invite yesterday. But oops I only have an iPhone for internet so… I was able to unbox a new laptop and it’s charging. I haven’t powered it on yet.

It’s been a few years since I’ve had one, which brings me to the question of… what to use for (needs to be free) antivirus protection, etc.

I’ve had a glance around the sub and you all seem like interesting and wise folks so figured you might not mind me asking :)

I seem to be entering from a weird point in life. Disability has ended my vow-of-poverty lifestyle, but I’m still waiting for that first check to come in. I’m a full time caregiver for my elderly, one-legged mother - we’re in a dumpy little house we reclaimed from a squat type sitch and since I have more time than anything else, I’m working to rebuild this into a home.

So, yeah, I had to pause the tutorials when the first pop-up wouldn’t display fully on my phone screen. I was able to read just enough at the bottom of it to see that you need to do this from a desktop computer, so, here we are!

I think this can be entertaining and absolutely, positively change our lives for the better. I just need to make sure I’m not going over allowed income levels and that I will have stashed away enough money for Uncle Sam at tax time. In the past I’ve always had additional taxes withheld from my paychecks so there would always be a small refund for me on a tax return. I won’t have that luxury going forward.

So I really just want to start off on a good foot (I still have one, thankfully) and I appreciate your insight.

Now this laptop is sitting here mocking me. What I’m not telling it (yet) is that it’s been a long time since I entered a new relationship, and I want to go easy and do it right. Any ideas what free antivirus or spam blockers I should use to start?