How do I stop old USB drives from infecting my new Windows PC?

Jason wants to protect his new high-end laptop from viruses but needs data on old SD cards

I've just bought a high-end Windows laptop for video editing while travelling around Europe. What steps can I take to prevent any possible infections from being passed on from previous machines on SD cards and external hard drives? Some of the external hard drives go back to machines from 2004 but I have never plugged any of them into any computers other than my own previous Macs and PCs. I work professionally with video, photography and coding, so all of this data is vital.

I have a five-machine Bitdefender licence but I'd be prepared to use another protection system, and I've looked at Sophos Intercept X. Jason

There are at least three things to think about. First, there's the threat level: how at risk are you? Second, there's provenance: how much do you know about your devices? Third, how can you mitigate any risks revealed by the answers to the first two questions?