Does anyone else have trouble when you are using your computer & trying to download something?

It seems like they all want you to download software to protect your computer against malware & other viruses. Today, one of the craziest things happened. As I mentioned, we were working on our taxes, well, my husband’s computer wouldn’t allow me to access the data that I needed from our school so I could just go about my business. I tried everything. I finally saw were it said I need to download some Adobe software but, when I began to do so, it automatically checked the box to download some software to my husband’s computer to protect against the malware. I had to go back and remove the check but, it seemed like it was a complete waste! Why does everything seem like we have to add more junk to our computers than we really need?!