I have some recommended software in this post
http://www.thetechguide.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=15894For Firewall, you may want to go with either
Online Armor or Comodo
If you go with Online-Armor free, click the Download link to the right of the page
Scroll near the bottom for the free link
After installation, allow to Start then run the wizard
reboot afterwards
For AntiVirus, you may want to try
Avira AntiVir, it's a great AV
You will get a single ad every once in awhile, but that's about it
Look through it's options, you can schedule a scan daily, weekly, etc..
This next piece of software I suggest that everyone has
SpywareBlaster by JavaCool *Will block bad ActiveX Controls
*Block Malevolent cookies in Internet Explorer and Firefox
*Restrict actions of potentially dangerous sites in Internet Explorer
After installation, Check for updates
After updating, select "Protection Status" on the Left
Then select "
Enable all Protection"
"Check for updates every couple of weeks"after every update just simply click the
"enable protection on all unprotected items"or again, click on Protection Startus>>enable all protection
Spywareblaster just silently protects you, it doesn't run in the background as noted on their website
If you would like more realtime protection, try either Spywareguard or Microsoft's own
Windows Defender