Greetings friends.

It's not often you have a true blank slate situation. I ordered a new laptop last night...it should be here in the next few days.

I read the requisite stickies but they seem dated. I guess my biggest concern is anti-virus. What is the program of choice for the discerning forum member? I've used McAffee since time immemorial but I know there are better options out there.

Second question: what is the best way to purge pre-installed bloatware. There must be a better approach than my old method of googling every program and process and making a judgement call.

I'll be using it solely for video games and minimal foruming. There is a separate beater laptop for 'other'.

Any other tips, tricks, or suggestions will be appreciated.

Windows ten has a way to refresh the OS install, not sure if it keeps drivers but it should get rid of bloat ware.

Check av-test I think for current rankings, but bit defender has been king for a long time regarding accuracy, detection, and resource usage.

If it is Windows, I would still follow the advice of getting your software set up, creating an admin account, and then setting your account to standard.

Thanks for the info LK. I will give bit defender a look. I was surprised that the thread about admin accounts was locked, it has a lot of good info.

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Install CCleaner, Malwarebytes. Add ad block , and HTTPS everywhere to your chrome extension.

I'm not sure how to feel about HTTPS everywhere now that ssl is being exploited as a way for malicious software to bypass security solutions.