On-line protection is vital, and if you can get it for free, all the better.

FIREWALL

ZONEALARM from www.zonelabs.com

ANTI-VIRUS

AVG ANITVIRUS from www.grisoft.com is a good bet

SPYWARE

SPYBOT SEARCH &  DESTROY 1.3 from www.safer-networking.org
AD-AWARE SE PERSONAL from www.lavasoft.com
and SPYWAREBLASTER 3.3 from www.javacoolsoftware.com

TIP - get all three spyware programs because each does something the others don't !

Don't like RealPlayer

If you're fed-up with the intrusive Real Player, but need to run that type of file, 
go to www.free-codecs.com and download and install a program called Real Alternative.
It's freeware, and "does what it says on the tin".

TIP - Uninstall RealPlayer first - doing so after installing the new software
will remove some of the necessary codecs