It’s been a long while since i used a desktop and honestly can’t remember what antivirus software i used, and even then, probably the landscape has changed over the years.
Atm i’ve been winging it with just Windows Defender (no custom configuration) and scanning any thing that looks suspicious on VirusTotal, but probably that would be not enough.
I’m thinking on get a couple of pirated files, so i’d like to be as secure as possible.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet - have a good backup solution. If there isn’t anything on your computer that can’t be restored, then you’re not going to feel as much pressure to protect things.
Of course there’s crypto miners, identity theft, botnet stuff, all sorts of things that run undetected and don’t simply render your computer unusable. But if you’re absolutely sure you’re not losing anything, then “nuke it from orbit” becomes a more paletteable solution for virus removal. A hassle for sure, but format and start over again becomes an option that results in no loss other than the pain of having to reinstall everything.