Laptop malware scans fail, pop-up ads interrupt games

Start by removing ALL aftermarket "scanners.," anti-virus, and cleaing/optimizing apps.

Are the pop-ups pushing a security service or something else? USe the SECOND section of this Apple support article to see what apps and processes are authorized for display. Disable any that match the garbage interruptions you are encountering.

Change Notifications settings on Mac - Apple Support

If thise show up in Safari, do Safari Settings > Websites tab and select Notifications from the fleft-hand pane. Deny access to any sites that match the popups.

We can help you check for aftermarket software issues if you Post an EtreCheck report. We can quickly and within the limitations of these forums help you determine what issues are at play without our playing a protracted game of "20 Questions" with you that could go on for days. 

EtreCheck Pro is available here:https://etrecheck.com/en/welcome.html

The free version will do nicely for this purpose, although the app is worthy of our financial support.

We can see hard data about drive performance, software issues and interferences, and RAM usage. Etrecheck is the development of a long-serving and trusted ASC contributor. It is a reporting app, not a "fix-it” app, expressly for displaying information in these forums to help us help you remotely. It will not reveal any personal or secure information.

Please see this excellent user tip on how to post long text reports like EtreCheck's into a forum response:

How to use the Add Text Feature When Post… - Apple Community

NOTE: Please post the entire report unedited. There are subtle hints there that may seem trivial to a new EtreCheck user, but can speak volumes to those of us who have evaluated thousands of them.

I have free malware on my laptop that is no longer completing scans.

All malware is free.

In an attempt to make sense of that first sentence, do you mean you have free anti-virus software installed? If so, get rid of it. You can't detect something that doesn't exist. There has never, ever, been an actual virus in the entire lifespan of OS X / macOS. Only one or two worms, but lots of Trojans. Read here:

What is malware? - Apple Community

I suspect pop up ads on my game are not good as they kick me off my game.

Ads in games are practically a given. Especially free ones. How else do you think the person who wrote the game makes any money for their work?

Just to add to this excellent post.

When you run EtreCheck and copy the report to the clipboard, an editing window here is never big enough to hold all of the text. Use the additional text box to copy the report into.