Opening in a separate window is a good tip though I don't know exactly what it accomplishes that is different. Plus it'd be hard to remember if not ingrained in my fingers.

If ransom ware only targets encrypted files, what if I am using no encryption tweaks? I don't and never have. I'm also lax on security as I find that less is better. I know that is contrarian, but the suspicion remains for me over the years, as with the Yahoo you mentioned, that any program monitoring of activity
can work both ways. I actively use Malwarebytes Anti Exploit-free version.