Quickie

You need to have the essentials. An antivirus program and antispyware program.

 

For an antivirus I like NOD32 from www.eset.com it's light weight and does a better job then Norton/McAfee.

 

For an antispyware I like two, Microsoft's Windows Defender and Spybot Search and Destroy from www.safer-networking.org, both are FREE.

 

You also must be behind a firewall when you're on the Internet. Software firewall's don't do the job I like hardware firewall's. A router is a hardware firewall so if you don't have one of these they can be purchased for less then $40 for a basic unit.