OS, antivirus, spyware and various needs for recommendations

[Rarin92]

Hello everyone the name's Raistlin, I've just joined a 13wk IT internship 2wks ago.
I'm here to learn everything I possibly can so I'll be asking plenty of questions.
I really don't know much so I've got much to learn.
So I'll begin with this...

1) I understand that a lot of people prefer Linux, but what I'm wondering is how can I use Linux to my advantage and how can it empower me?
2) What antivirus and spyware program would you recommend to me?
3) I don't understand why this happens, but for whatever reason a small advertisement will pop up on the bottom right area of my screen when I'm surfing the web - why does this happen and what can I do to stop it? (it happens on youtube, amazon, tech-forums , interpals.net, and various other websites that includes a social or shopping background)
4) This question is basically the same as #3, but it has to do more with words. Anyways the question is - Why is it that some keywords are highlighted or bold and why do they show me an advertisement I don't care about and why does it open up a new tab without my permission - what can I do to solve this problem?
5) What are some good programs for making beats, editing videos, learning languages, and what are some good tools I can help to improve my ability to remember things better and enhance my ability to learn things and retain the information I'm learning about in clearer detail?
6) What study methods would you recommend me to help me learn everything about computers?

 

[Trotter]

2) For spyware/malware use Malwarebytes Anti-Malware, the Pro version if you have the money for it. For cleaning up a computer I use an Rkill, ComboFix, and MBAM cocktail in safe mode; Rkill, followed by MBAM, followed by ComboFix, then rinse/reboot and repeat.

3) Are you blocking popups? Have you tried Adblock Plus (either as an extension or downloadable for IE)?

4) See #3. Also, try using Flashblock and NoScript extensions (for Firefox, probably for Chrome as well).

6) Experience.

 

[Lexluethar]

1)Linus has a lot of different flavors / versions. People generally like linux because its a much more stable environment and it's customizable. At our work we use a variation of Red Hat for our security applications, FTP site and a few other external facing websites. Linux is nice because it's secure and has a small attack surface. It's also really manageable when deployed from an OVF. We get the product from the vendor, we literally type in the specifics in a menu window and the server is deployed and nearly works out of the box.
2)Malwarebytes for malware, microsoft security essentials for virus
3)we need more specifics here. Is this at work, home? Give us a screen shot if possible
4)Probably add-ins or possible the browser you are using
5)What? Again, specifics man. Language as in English or language as in Visual Basic?
6)Depends on how you learn. SOme use books, some use school, some use the Internet and some just rely on experience. My suggestion would be to pickup a book in something that interests you and learn it.

 

[Rarin92]

3) No, this is the 1st laptop I've had over the past 2yrs, I've tried looking up some programs myself but there's so many to choose from and some of them are not helpful at all. But now that I know better I'll be sure to start using Adblock Plus.

Thank you for your comment Trotter

 

[Rarin92]

3) This is at home, but thanks to Adblock I'm not having this issue anymore.
4) I see, is Chrome known for doing this kind of thing? I've used FireFox and never had this kind of thing happen.
5) I'm trying to learn Korean, so I'm wondering what are some recommendable options for it.
Thank you for your comment