Yikes!
I appreciate the info and suggestions
What is a “secure erase?
Get rid of the Modem? I don’t understand. How do I connect her then?
Secure erase is when you select that option - if aavailable - to write 1s and 0s over the hard drive for hours, but most secure is to just remove and throw the hard drive away, replacing it with a brand new one.
Yep. You don’t. Else she and you will face the same problems sooner or later. Perhaps if it were your box you could keep it clean, but most people don’t bother or don’t know how.
Those anti-bad stuff programs must be constantly updated and always run in the background to work, but then they are only effective against known stuff. The gap between when a new thing appears and when the anti-bad stuff program is updated leaves a gap when the box can (will) become infected.
Other than you keeping her box clean on a daily basis, the only other option you can do is to get a Mac... end of all the bad stuff and their constant background updating and checking slowing the box down, all current email/files on the box can be safely and easily transfered, w/o risk, and you can connect w/o worry. Not shilling here, but is just the case when a person does not have the time, inclination, or knowledge to keep a box clean.
A plus is that if you get a new one from an Apple Store, they will do all the support for one to three years. Which means you don’t have to.
Don't get rid of the modem, get her a router that serves as a firewall. Other than that, I use no anti-virus or anti-crap ware at all. But you may still want to run some on her box.
Linux is another option. Mint is a great OS.